Affluenza

Image: supplied

Will Hannagan debuts his latest show Affluenza as part of this year’s Midsumma Festival. A synth-pop cabaret featuring all original musical numbers composed by Hannagan himself, Affluenza is highly reminiscent of John Cameron Mitchell’s early performances of Hedwig and the Angry Itch.

Affluenza parodys Hollywood talkshow-style interviews to deconstruct stardom, celebrity culture and the all-too-familiar story of child star turned club kid turned drug-addled mess. Hannagan plays a post-rehab pop star ready to promote his new album and win back his fans after his fall from grace. Robbie Ten Eyck is flawless as the cheesy talk show host, shamelessly promoting his own book and snuffling around for the latest salacious scandal.

Although this depiction is well executed, none of it is particularly groundbreaking until Hannagan takes his examination of celebrity culture to new depths by revealing that his character is in fact nothing but a pair of fame-obsessed wannabe hanging out late at night playing famous with his accommodating friend.

The staging and intimate setting of The Butterfly Club fosters the atmosphere of watching friends sing into hairbrushes during a highschool sleepover, albeit extremely talented friends. Hannagan’s snappy aside stage directions enrich rather than break the fantasy. The quarrels between “Real Will” and “Real Robbie” about the direction their fantasy is taking are at once impossibly teenage and bristling with pathos. The interplay between the parallel narratives of the pop superstar interview and the two friends pretending to be famous is beautifully handled. It simultaneously raises and answers the question “if this is fame, why would anyone want to be famous” and brings a depth to the production that would not otherwise have been possible.

Affluenza manages to be a fantastically fun, toe-tapping show while conducting a deeply effecting examination of celebrity culture. The audience should come prepared to dance to the hilarious and surprisingly catchy pop-style numbers. Hannagan knows his pop music and many of the originals composed for this production are catchier and more fun than real popular music. Both the show’s dialogue and song lyrics are jam-packed with quips, puns and more innuendo than you would have thought possible (everything that could possibly have been made suggestive has been made suggestive). Nearly every line is a gag and Hannagan and Ten Eyck do an excellent job of delivering rapid-fire repartee. 

Affluenza promises glitz, glam and totally over the top excess from costumes such as a transparent jacket stuffed with a rainbow of consumer goods to acrobatic choreography including singing during a backwards bend. It manages to captivate with pop anthems and tongue-in-cheek hilarity and simultaneously connect with emotional authenticity. Considering that the perils of fame are a well-trodden territory, Affluenza succeeds in taking a groundbreaking approach with the subject matter and leaves the audience with a lasting emotional impression.

Affluenza
The Butterfly Club, Melbourne

22nd January – 8th February, 2015