Silo Theatre return to their original stomping ground at Basement Theatre with the first live show of their 25th year – Jasmine Lee-Jones’ explosive seven methods of killing kylie jenner. This no-BS dynamic Gen Z production is steeped in sharp social commentary, meme culture, and Twitter beef, premiering in Aotearoa from 2 – 18 June.
In 2019, Kylie Jenner becomes the youngest ‘self-made’ billionaire in history. It’s 4am and Cleo — @INCOGNEGRO — is mad as hell. Self-made? Please. From the corner of her bedroom, she unleashes a tweetstorm which rapidly veers out of her control. When her best friend Kara tries to talk her down, the conversation turns inwards: “I’m just saying,” she remarks, “You’re not perfect,” “And?” Cleo responds. “Neither are you.”
seven methods of killing kylie jenner has quickly become one of the most talked-about contemporary plays, lauded for its powerful, funny, and thought-provoking exploration of the commodification of Black bodies, double standards in identity politics and how it weaves URL beefs into the characters’ IRL lives. As Cleo tweets through their rage, rhetoric quickly escalates into all-out vitriol: with her comments removed from context and devoid of tone, the Twittersphere is out for blood.
Following the play’s 2019 premiere at London’s Royal Court Theatre, Lee-Jones received the Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright and the Stage Debut Award for Best Writer, firmly establishing 24 year old Lee-Jones’ knife-sharp script as one of the most exciting British theatrical debuts of recent memory.
At the helm of this adventurous and biting production is emerging Director Keagan Carr Fransch. A graduate of University of Waikato, Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School and London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, seven methods of killing kylie jenner marks Carr Fransch’s directorial debut with Silo. Originally from Zimbabwe, Carr Fransch has called Aotearoa home since 2004, having performed in productions with The Court Theatre, Circa Theatre and Pop-Up Globe. She is excited to direct this landmark work, commenting:
“The team that is coming together is just so cool! There is no other word for it. A group of incredibly talented, highly skilled and brilliantly creative wāhine whose attention to the kaupapa of the work and capacity for dreaming big have me bursting with joy and pride to be creating this production together. More than anything I’d love for our Black, Afro-Kiwi audiences to leave the play knowing that they are loved, and that they are worthy of that love.”
Listen to an interview with director Keagan Carr Fransch and Andrew Whiteside:
Bringing the script to life on stage, Batanai Mashingaidze and Grace Bentley-Tsibuahare the two performers taking on the roles of Cleo and Kara. Mashingaidze is a Zimbabwean actor, director and writer whose performance credits include Wellington Paranormal (2018) and Drop Down Globe (2017) and she recently created the audio experience Don’t Glaze Over for Barbarian Productions. Bentley-Tsibuah is a Ghanaian-Pākehā artist who grew up in Kerikeri and is a graduate of Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School. Her most recent projects include Woman of Citrus (2019), Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (2019), Nude Tuesday (2022), Creamerie (2021) and The Royal Treatment (2022). This is the Silo debut for both performers.
Completing the creative line up is the production’s design team: Jane Hakaraia (Set & Lighting Design), Paige Pomona (Sound Design) and Natasha Ovely/Starving Artists Fund. (Costume Design). Longtime Silo collaborator Jane Hakaraia (Ngāti Raukawa) is a freelance stage and screen design powerhouse, whose last work for Silo was the critically acclaimed Wild Dogs Under My Skirt. Paige Pomona (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Rakaipaaka) is an emerging sound designer, musician and music editor, recently involved in Te Pou Theatre’s production, Kūpapa. Costume designer Natasha Ovely is perhaps best known for her brand Starving Artists Fund – a socially-conscious, gender-neutral and ethically-produced fashion label based in Tamaki Makaurau. She’ll be bringing her unique and cutting-edge taste and background in Fine Arts and Fashion Design to style this production. Silo is excited to bring together a team with a broad range of experience and disciplines to thrust Tāmaki Makaurau into a fiery production of a powerhouse script.
seven methods of killing kylie jenner deftly dissects the politics of friendship, cancel culture, colourism, queer identity and cultural appropriation in a piercing script that sent shockwaves around the world. Auckland audiences have waited a long time to get back to the theatre, and Silo has programmed the perfect show to break the ice.
Warning: This show is not polite. You’ll acc b raging, just FYI.
Note – Copy for this event supplied by Elephant Publicity.
seven methods of killing kylie jenner
2 – 18 June
Tue – Sat, 8PM & Sun, 5PM
Basement Theatre
Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
Tickets on sale Thurs 5 May via iTICKET
Preview: $28.00
Adult: $38.00
Concession: $28.00 (Senior Citizen, Students, Unwaged, Equity – all with valid ID)
Under 30: $30.00
Silo Crew (Group 6+): $35.00 p/ticket
Supporter (Ticket with added Silo Support): $50.00
Click here for more information and ticket information
seven methods of killing kylie jenner contains descriptions of racial violence and descriptions of rape and sexual assault.
*booking fees apply