By Tamala Ceasar
Your vlogger bestfriend could be a Bitch.
Watching the stage of Bitches by Bola Agbaje at the Finborough Theatre, a teenage bedroom presented itself as the central location. Flamingo lights adorned the mirror, the bed was dressed with an animated Simpsons duvet and a camera fixed on a tripod was placed on the carpet ready for use. It all looked very innocent and akin to many a teenage room… then the music started. Drake, Krepta and Konan along with trap rappers of 2016 blasted through the speakers and created a club atmosphere (with the help of the neon lights) and minutes later the main characters and ‘Sons of Bitches’ vloggers Funke and Cleo burst through the door, jovially rocking to the baseline. I felt like as if I was looking at a snapshot of my teenage self as they did the Nae-nae, dabbed’ and crumped; emphasising key phrases in the songs, mouthing the lyrics to each track as they danced around the room. It was like watching a scene from Puff Daddy and Mase’s video ‘Mo Money, Mo Problems’, but in this case (I was soon to find out that) it was more like more likes, shares and comments – more problems.
Knowing very little of the play, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew that it was going to convey vlogger life from a black perspective, but I didnt know that it would educate and inform me as well as entertain me in the way it did. Bitches took an Olympic winning dive into the behind the doors ignorance, stereotypes and the harsh realities of the racism, which throughout the play, surfaces it’s ugly head in the conversations between modern day black and white teenagers Funke and Cleo.
Planning their last video before their lengthy break, the vloggers begin to clash over what topic they should cover and this is the point where the conflict on the ‘all lives matter’ vs the ‘black lives matter’ debate between the girls, begin. Arguing over whether talking about discussing Funke’s mother stating, “I’m not a black woman” would get them the clicks they need, Cleo states her view that all lives matter to Funke’s surprise. What was meant to be a fun and entertaining evening of filming, soon turns into a revealing debate on how they really feel about the global race conflict, their individual self-perception, how different their stances really are as black and white teenagers, and most importantly how they fit into all of this.
Bitches presented the realities of the world we’re living in today, how clued up teenagers really are about current affairs and the racial tensions that creep into interracial friendships. It was also a keyhole view of the real vlogger life, the pressures to stay on trend, online bullying, the need for popularity and ‘staying relevant’ and the career choice that vlogging has become for young people. Having plans to turn ‘Sons of bitches’ into a business, rebellious Nigerian Funke admits to Cleo that she’s only studying an academic subject because her mum wants her to, and as soon as she graduates she will launch SOBs into a company and hire staff to run it.
From embarrassing, controversial and funny moments, the hour-long play addressed the addiction that vloggers have for capturing everything; conveying that teenagers have turned into a generation who don’t live in the moment. I was educated on the hard work that goes on behind the camera and the facade that vloggers put on to please their audience and stay relevant. It was eye opening to see the kind of competitiveness that exists amongst vloggers and their need to cover controversy, even if it’s a topic that they aren’t comfortable with.
The obsession with creating content that is clickbait was confirmation of the culture that we live in too. Vloggers are under constant pressure to come up with videos that are controversial, original and sometimes borderline offensive; even it has the possibility of tarnishing their reputation. For the sake of likes and shares – it’s a price they’re clearly willing to pay.
Bitches was fantastic in my opinion. If playwright Bola Agbaje wanted to educate the over 30s audience on what it’s like to be modern multicultural teenagers in today’s world, she’s done it. She managed to put prevalent thoughts, feelings and emotions surrounding race on the table. She also showed how strong friendships can be and that although the world may not be able to get along with each other, it’s important to get along with (and understand) the person who you’ve been friends with for years- even if she doesn’t totally get your point of view- all that matters is that she acknowledges it and respects it.
Learning that the fantastic actresses Tara Tijani and Katherine Humphrey came from the National Youth Theatre where Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and Helen Mirin attended, it’s no surprise that this play surpassed my expectations and hit the ball well and truly out the park. My only question is, when will a television network pick this up as a series? It needs to happen asap if you ask me.
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