The teenage trend behind Louise Orwin’s Pretty/Ugly is a disturbing one. Young girls are taking to social platforms in droves to ask anyone who is on the internet - and paying attention to them - whether they are pretty or ugly. One of the main channels for this is YouTube, where there are pages and pages of girls; fat, thin, tall, short, of different races and with different styles repeating this tweenager mantra.
Sadly, the comments are rarely from people who want to offer their support. Worryingly, many of these comments come from fully-grown men.
It was this new culture that prompted Orwin to take to YouTube herself, as an artist, and post three videos, in three different guises, on the internet.
What evolved from this is a short play (coming in at around 50 minutes) that aims to explore what happens when teenagers ask their all important pretty/ugly question, and the fall out from being judged purely on their looks.
On walking into the Neville Studio of The Playhouse – to watch Pretty/Ugly as part of the theatre’s Flesh Season - we’re confronted by Orwin in a leotard, wearing a fake wig, tiara and roller skates lying on the floor. She then proceeds to film herself on her iPhone miming to a Britney Spears song, while we watch on a big screen behind. The colours are bright, there are sequins, bubblegum pinks and bright blues. A teenager’s dream, if you will.
From then on there follows a few costume changes, some stuffed animals and a story between Orwin and Bobby, an older guy from the USA who started a friendship with one of the girls Orwin created. Bobby is not given much stage time though, as the story isn’t about older men forming relationships with young girls, but about the girls themselves. Text speech is shown on a projector, a narrative of what streams through teenage girls’ minds on a constant basis. One of the most poignant parts of the play for me is when Orwin asks the audience to remember what we were doing at the age this girls are posting on YouTube – going to school discos, getting excited over glitter nails and lip gloss. If we felt ugly we told our parents, or our friends, not some 45 year old man living halfway across the world.
Orwin’s three alter-egos were well thought out and the reactions to each video very interesting. I was hoping that more would be made of this; however Orwin killed off her three ‘teens’ early, in a fit of anxiety. This in itself is an interesting development, which she addresses, explaining she became too interested in what people thought of her personas.
Although a boundlessly interesting subject matter and a very well paced performance, I felt that Orwin could put focus a little more on the teenagers affected by online bullying. Regardless, Orwin has produced a powerful performance which reminds the audience how teenagers are increasingly turning towards the internet for their social life and as a self-esteem crutch – a very scary thought for those of us who know how ugly the internet can be.
Pretty/Ugly was at Nottingham Playhouse on Friday 24 October
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