Piece of Me, Camden People’s Theatre Review

Written by Bronagh for Theatre and Tonic.

Disclaimer: Tickets were gifted in return for an honest review. All views are my own.

Content warning – brief mention of revenge porn

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I’m thirty years old and like most, grew up listening to Britney Spears. From Hit Me Baby One More Time, to Oops I Did It Again all the way up to the Circus album, I absolutely loved seeing what came next from Britney. I, like the rest of the world, also watched on as Britney’s privacy was repeatedly invaded for the entertainment of the media. Piece of Me is a show created and performed by Claire Gaydon exploring two topics which go hand in hand -  surveillance and celebrity.

It was Claire’s dream to be a popstar, just like her idol Britney Spears. Along with her two friends Natalie and Chloe, she wrote songs and created dance routines. There was even a music video at one point, unfortunately, taped over by a Touch of Frost. They were the talk of the playground, up until they went to secondary school, had their difference and slowly drifted apart. This is until 2024, when the group reunites for a performance in a London venue.

Piece of Me is broken up into separate parts; primary school, secondary school, addressing the audience in the style of a Saturday morning TV show interview, the ‘comeback’ and then as the group work for a surveillance company who have won a Home Office contract. This made for interesting viewing – something a bit different - particularly the end scene where the cast all talk amongst themselves first on how they’re going to act out the final scene. Although I got the end scene and the overall message, I did find this slightly clunky. This was not detrimental to the show at all, the rest of which I really enjoyed, I did just feel like this could have been done differently perhaps.

Creating a show on CCTV and surveillance may seem quite unusual. Maybe not our usual theatre topics, but theatre is capable of anything! Piece of Me explores how CCTV and surveillance are ‘always watching’ despite not always being reliable; we are given the statistic of only one in a thousand CCTV cameras actually solving a crime. Claire shares her own experience of CCTV not working in her favour, which actually inspired Piece of Me. 

We also think about the ethics and whether it is right that, essentially, our every movement in public could be recorded. Is facial recognition really a great idea? These are thoughts we have provoked throughout, put to the audience in a very creative and interesting way. One minute we’re laughing at a quick witted line, the next we’re thinking about whether these things are really ethical. The mix of fun and seriousness is well thought through and also well received.

Alex Roberts and Yaz Zadeh join Claire in playing Chloe and Natalie. The trio put on a very entertaining show, particularly when playing school girls both younger and as teenagers. There were lots of laughs throughout the audience, particularly at poor Natalie’s expense. The characters of Chloe and Natalie introduce an additional layer to the characters, from coping with divorced parents, rumours being spread and also touching on revenge porn. 

I particularly liked the use of video, courtesy of Joseph Brett, during a Piece of Me. The show starts with some clips from Britney’s most loved music videos, almost like the run up to a concert. A great way to get the audience in the mood! Video is then used throughout, where we see home video clips and more clips of Britney being interviewed and asked intrusive question. I thought this really worked in the context of the show, and kept the audience engrossed. 

The music, original songs by Claire Gaydon remastered by James Jacob, were actually quite enjoyable too. They were all primary school disco worthy, and paid great homage to All Saint’s spoken intro in Never Ever. If you know you know.

Overall, Piece of Me is a very clever and well thought out piece of theatre. It got me thinking about surveillance and the ethics behind it in a way I’ve never thought about it before! Get yourself down to Camden Peoples Theatre for a great, Britney-themed night out before 1st June!

At Camden Peoples Theatre until 1st June 2024.
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆