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Archive Nov 13, 2015
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With a mounting newsfeed of personal branding and clickbait, how does one stand out amongst this content avalanche? Kristina Wong, performance artist and twitter sensation, takes us on her quest to procure a legacy in a zeitgeist of a one-woman-show, The Wong Street Journal.
Even though Wong has amassed an impressive online following, she is caught in a modern existential crisis that we can all relate to—feeling disconnected to the world, the one beyond the comfortable glow of an iPad. Staged to look like Pee Wee’s Playhouse took over the New York Stock exchange, social media’s value is presented on hand-sewn pie charts and graphs, making our online existence seem like a trivial game of Monopoly.
This voracious consumption of shares, likes, and uploads comes to life like a scene out of Wolf of Wallstreet as she throws hashtags in the air like dollars waiting to be seized by the audience. But internet fame doesn’t feel a cause worthy venture anymore.
Questioning the meaning of our digital frontier, she encourages us to ask: What happened to community—not the fake one invented by Uber or Airbnb—but the physical one? Why are people swiping instead of talking? Inevitably she sets off on an Eat Pray Love trip of self discovery, but instead of finding a lover in Bali she volunteers in Uganda and makes a local hip hop crew’s dream come true by opening a recording studio.
Walking into political terrain can sometimes feel like a laborious lecture, but Wong’s freak flag waves too high for a boring podium presentation on inequality and white privilege. She breaks down stereotypes and simultaneously breaks it down on the dance floor.
The Wong Street Journal is presented and co-commissioned by REDCAT Theatre from November 12th – 15th. For more about REDCAT, click here.
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