Want to hear a social climber recount her experiences going out in Georgetown every night in 2011? Then go see STATUS: A Social Media Experiment. Kathryn Elizabeth Kelly’s scenester friends in the audience love the stories involving people they recognize and nights out they remember. One of them can’t help from whispering to himself a little too loudly as he recognizes the players and places Kelly is talking about. The man she’ll refer to as the “artist?” Jorge! That snooty club she’ll call “A1?” L2 Lounge!
Others may enjoy a glimpse of the glamorous nightlife and pick up a few tips on how to be part of it themselves (if they’re model pretty). Don’t pay for drinks! Never be photographed wearing the same outfit the same way twice! Travel solo if you can, and just find a sponsor when you get to your destination. It can be quicker than waiting for a billionaire to whisk you away (certainly the preferred option). Some may feel a tinge of jealousy. Others may enjoy gawking at a shallow world that is full of glitz, loneliness, phony people, and self destruction, or partaking in a bit of psychoanalysis. Many will leave with a strong sense of disdain.
The dramatic arts are nowhere to be seen in the production. Kelly, whose resume as an actor and dancer does suggest some theatrical experience, sits cross-legged at her laptop the entire hour rehashing her tales, clicking through a Facebook inspired slide presentation. The play is moved along by the ringing of a service bell. That and Ke$ha songs.
The operative word in the title is “status.” It’s much more of a study in social climbing than social media. Having lots of fake friends and getting tagged in pictures is certainly part of that climb, but beyond that social media is incidental. The so-called experiment—saying “yes” to every party, drink, and after party she has the chance to attend—is more of an excuse to live a fast, vapid life for a year.
When the idea creeps in to take a break from activities—like staying on a yacht until 8 a.m. if a certain billionaire promises to pay her mortgage or when she finds herself at another of his parties naked and cold, blacking out, hands bound with an electrical cord, thinking she’s going to die and not caring—all she needs to do is remind herself that she “committed to an experiment” and needs to keep going out, “if only to honor the commitment.”
Kelly does try to deliver nuggets of deeper meaning gained from her grand experiment. Like “as tough as it seems sometimes to go out,” you should go and be there for your friends because “it matters. It’s a direct call of action. Do unto others. Show up.” Wow. Activists unite.
If you were out at the club getting inebriated with Kathryn Kelly, the play may be fun. If you’re not part of the world of velvet ropes, snobbery, rich guys, model girls, and wannabes this “play” occupies, it’s going to strike a nerve. Is it envy or thankfulness? One thing Kelly realizes early in her “experiment” is to not say anything that rival catty girls can use against you and you’re not willing to stand by. I stand by this review though I’m not counting on getting into L2 Lounge anytime soon.
Remaining performances:
Wednesday, July 24, 6:30pm
Saturday, July 27, 3:30pm
At Caos on F, 923 F Street NW
Get tickets here.
