Here at Perth Arts Live, we know festival season in Perth/Boorloo (and beyond!) is hectic. There’s a lot to do, see, and plan when arts festivals overlap in such spectacular ways. To help readers make informed decisions about where to spend every moment of their free time during Fringemas just like us, we’re asking FRINGE WORLD artists to ‘take five’ from their busy schedules to answer five questions about their shows. No rest for the weary, eh?
Writer & performer Charlotte Otton takes five with PAL to talk about her “Infinitely thrilling and terrifying” deep dive into doom scrolling: I Watched Someone Die on TikTok. The show debuted in October 2024 at La Mama Theatre for the Melbourne Fringe Festiveal, and comes to Boorloo/Perth with the help of Lazy Yarns at the State Theatre Centre as part of State of Play from 21 – 25 Jan. About I Watched:
“Bold, brassy and combustible” multi-award winning artist and 8-hour-a-day-screen-time user, Charlotte Otton (Feminah, Let me finish.) delivers her new solo show I Watched Someone Die on TikTok. A 60 minute live infinite doom scroll that combines raw data, raw emotions and raw comedy. A pixelated and picaresque solo show about “the algorithm”—that vague, shadowy, inhuman entity and the unsettling experience of navigating today’s digital hellscape. Relatable for anyone whose algorithm has latched onto their insecurities and fears and turned an innocent mindless scroll into a daily dose of life’s latest horrors.”
Q1 What inspired the show, and what motivated you to bring it to FRINGE WORLD?
After moving to Sydney from Perth in 2022, I found myself in a big ol’ depressive slump and turned to TikTok for some much needed amusement and connection. Unfortunately my algorithm picked up on my IRL depression and started drip-feeding me death centric, harrowing content that made me spiral even further. It all came to a head when I watched a video of a 5-year-old girl dying sandwiched between a Princess Polly clothing haul and a dance challenge video. This propelled me to deep-dive into the ‘doom scroll’ of it all and interrogate our dark web and the people and machines behind it. Perth is my second home so I’m stoked to have my WA premiere at Fringe World.
Q2 What’s the most unexpected, funny, or interesting thing that has happened during the show’s development?
Because I’m creating a show in direct response to our online climate – I’m forced to constantly update it. Even in the last couple of months major developments like ByteDance having to sell TikTok to an American company by Jan 19th or America will ban the app…or the Australian Government passing legislation that bans people under 16 from using social media. These huge developments offer exciting/terrifying challenges as an artist to create work in direct response. It’s so TOPICAL it hurts.
Q3 What does the audience absolutely need to know before they come to see the show? (without spoilers, of course!)
Melbourne audiences and reviewers have called it “deeply unsettling” and that they felt “sick to their stomach (in the best possible way)” BUT they also said the work is “extremely funny” and “poignant as hell”. Audiences should come prepared to experience that whiplash you get as you scroll online. It’s daunting, harrowing, silly, and chaotic. Ultimately though, this show is a comedy.
Q4 If you could invite any famous person (living or dead) to the show, who would it be and why?
I would invite Elon Musk because that little psycho freak would love it.
Q5 What other show(s) would pair well with yours for a delicious FRINGE WORLD feast?
Black Girl Rising at The Hat Trick 17th – 26th Jan and Fag/Stag at Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre 21st – 25th Jan are both must-sees.
BONUS ROUND: In 10 words or less, give us your last-ditch pitch to get folks in to see the show!
You’ll laugh, cry and want to burn your phone.
