Review by Julie-Anna Evans
I Watched Someone Die on TikTok: Written and Performed by Charlotte Otton. The show opened Wednesday night at La Mama HQ as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. This fascinating and timely piece is a collaboration between Charlotte Otton and Lindsay McDonald, directed by Maddie Diggins.
Visually, the staging is minimal yet impactful, featuring a bare stage centered around a screen that simulates the very mechanics of digital creation. The show begins with a barrage of TikTok videos that transition from funny to bizarre, macabre, and ultimately disturbingly chaotic—creating a vivid portrayal of the content creation whirlwind. Before the performance, the audience is invited to vote for a TikTok challenge that Charlotte will complete live on stage, further immersing them in this digital tapestry.
Through original songs and poetry, Otton constructs a compelling narrative that delves into her scrolling history. TikTok may claim to be “the sunniest corner on the internet,” but this performance boldly unearths the darker, more complicated layers lurking beneath that facade.
Throughout the show, Charlotte Otton deconstructs her personal relationship with TikTok in real-time. She shares insights gleaned from her algorithms and “computer milestones,” drawing from her online experiences and search history. The emergence of themes such as consent and conscious choice challenges the audience to reflect: when do we allow ourselves to disengage? It's a sensory experience—one that speaks to the muscle memory of our fingers, moving on autopilot while seemingly unaware.
As Otton provocatively states, “In the past, witnessing somebody dying meant that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Today, that experience can invade our lives with just a push of a button.
The show resembles a TED talk fused with stand-up comedy, featuring direct, engaging addresses to the audience. Otton weaves through the history of the internet, affectionately dubbing it the “scawy web,” bringing both humor and gravitas to her narrative.I Watched Someone Die on TikTok is both confrontational and funny—a vulnerable, witty examination of algorithms and the erosion of conscious choice. The use of technology throughout the piece is executed exceptionally well, highlighting the nuanced points Otton makes regarding the medium's impact.
Charlotte Otton is a charismatic performer with an impressive skill set. Her powerful voice delivers astute insights with sincerity. The performance culminates in a well-executed cacophony that emulates a life-size doom scroll on stage. Otton openly shares the discoveries made during her research while creating the show, adding an additional layer of authenticity. In a poignant moment, she acknowledges that she could simply turn off her phone and walk away from the train wreck that is TikTok. But the lingering question remains: will she?
Image Supplied