(4 / 5)
See-Through is an amusing exploration of Claire Gaydon, a 29-year-old, Drama school graduate, “giving it a go” on the old YouTube. A semi auto-biographical play about boundaries online, oversharing and the relationship between a mother and daughter.
The play opens with Claire Gaydon singing ‘Gimme More’ by Britney Spears, (an excellent song choice), before she sits down, back to the audience and presents herself through a screen.
Early on, Gaydon establishes her character and tells us this is a true story with a few fabrications. The character finds her voice and begins establishing her channel. Starting out with generic challenges and funny videos with her mother. The more she shares, the quicker we learn that other content will get more views.
In particular, content where Claire overshares with titles such as “Sex and Weed”. The more she overshares, the more she knocks down the boundaries between her and the audience. Eventually, Gaydon goes too far and shares a very personal experience. Something she hasn’t even told her mother, who subsequently finds out through the video. This forces Claire to re-evaluate and reflect on her YouTube experience.
The performance from Claire Gaydon is strong. It’s obviously a personal piece, but one she is critical and self-aware about in her performance. Gaydon obviously enjoys the funnier moments of the script, but it is the more serious ones where her performance is strongest.
The writing is witty and amusing but doesn’t hold back on personal details of the character. Despite seeing the majority of the performance via a screen, we get to “see-through” to the emotion of the character behind the screen. This is something we don’t get in real world YouTube which works really well and is a really nice concept.
A worry going in was that the play would trivialise YouTube a bit, but it doesn’t do this. Another worry was that the use of technology would take away from the intimacy of the play. But if anything, it allows us to get even closer to the character. Gaydon just has fun with it and through a good use of technology delivers an interesting piece both in terms of its content and presentation.
There are moments that could be cut a little. Moments that drag, especially near the start, where Claire researches YouTube – which ultimately serves as a quick introduction to audience members who are not so familiar with the platform. We learn a little about the character through this, but really not enough for the opening minutes. This is, however, carried well by humour and is the only real blip in the production, and one which is ultimately understandable.
See-Through is not the most plot-heavy play, but its strength isn’t in the plot. There is a story that jumps around in terms of timeline, revealed through the screen chronologically. But this is more of a character-based piece which peaks as we eventually go behind the screen and see Claire writing a letter to her mother.
A real strength of the play is that it could go down with any age-group. Anyone “older” who is put off by the mention of YouTube really needn’t be. It’s objectively funny and enjoyable as well as having a deeper message and a story to tell which will resonate with almost anyone in some way.
The message is subtle and well crafted, which is a testament to the writing and performance of Claire Gaydon. It’s intimacy and excellent character work will have you thinking about it long after the production is over.
See-Through is a humorous, intimate and emotive play that explores the character behind the screen of an aspiring YouTuber.
See-Through is part of The Other Room’s ‘Spring Fringe’ curated spring season. One of eight shows coming to Cardiff’s only pub theatre over eight weeks. Tickets can be found for the upcoming Spring Fringe shows HERE, with an ever-growing discount for the more shows you book.
SEE
THROUGH performed at The Other Room
21st – 24th February 2019
Created, performed and presented by Claire Gaydon
Associate Directors: Jaz Woodcock-Stewart and Grace Gibson
Music by James Jacob
Video Editing Support: Joseph Brett
Stage Manager: Ben Lyon