DISINHIBITION by Christopher Bryant
August 28 - Saturday 7th of September 2019 at Monash University Student Theatre
(Production photography by Aleksander Corke - promotional image by Ryan Hamilton)
What happens when you accrue a following of 50,000 fans before you’ve even finished high school? Moreover, how far would you go to make them leave you alone?
Flick is Insta-famous for her FODMAP-friendly cooking. George has an ever-growing following, with his fans watching his every move, but longs for escape. Tay is a dynamic program created by Microsoft who learns what it means to be human from the strangers she chats with online. But what happens when she learns about souls, love, humour... and racism?
'Disinhibition' explores the social and cultural consequences of the gulf between our online profiles and our everyday lives. It presents a world where technological facades fuel social disconnection and a brutal loss of restraint in cyberspace communication, coined ‘The Disinhibition Effect’.
Credits:
Director: Yvonne Virsik
Assistant Director: Georgina Bright
Set Design: Jason Lehane
A/V Design: Justin Gardam
Sound Design/Composition: Sam Porter
Dramaturg & Photographer: Aleksander Corke
WITH: Alice Pryor, Amanda Dhammanarachchi, Ana Swadling, Emily Keagan, Georgia Kate Bell, Grace Hamann, Harry Dowling, Patrick Weyland-Smith, Pranav Malhotra, Quinten Henderson, Sam Pringle
Disinhibition was developed through Nebraska’s “Great Plains Theatre Conference” in 2018, and first presented there as a reading directed by Colleen O’Doherty.
PRESS:
“Bringing this concept onto the stage feels as natural as checking Facebook… theatre with students that is nothing like student theatre.” - Anne-Marie Peard, Sometimes Melbourne
“[Disinhibition is] a sublime interaction that struggles with the question “Is the internet good for us?” Bryant doesn’t have an answer, of course. It’s fuck yes and hell no. And through slivers of conversation and difficult encounters with the internet famous, somehow there’s a comfort in knowing that we are all in the same boat – trying to be ourselves online, but never quite making it.” - Keith Gow