Claire Gaydon is delighted to bring her new writing debut Piece of Me to Camden People’s Theatre. This darkly comic piece about the loss of innocence in a world of surveillance will run from Tuesday 21st May – Saturday 1st June 2024.
Claire always wanted to be a popstar – more specifically she wanted to be the next Britney Spears -but creative differences with her Year 6 playground pop group cut her career short. Now, in 2024, they’ve buried the hatchet, brought in a real music producer, and come together to stage their original songs in a co-devised, cross-arts, multi-disciplinary performance that lifts the lid on UK data privacy invasions.
Claire grew up consuming every bit of Britney content she could – music, videos, tabloid stories and paparazzi shots. She loved Britney – and wanted to be her. Twenty years later, though, she sees the darker side of the Britney content she used to devour and the negative consequences for her musical hero of always being the centre of attention. How have invasions of privacy defined Britney’s life – and how do they define life for the rest of us?
Inspired by Britney, her relationship with public invasions of privacy, and her classic discography of certified bangers, Piece of Me delves into data law, CCTV use, paparazzi, and facial recognition technology. Claire draws on her life-long obsession with Britney’s music and her long term love of performance to highlight the ways in which the exploitation of image, data, and identity can impact everyday citizens in the UK – with a huge helping of humour and self-awareness.
Piece Of Me encourages its audience to reflect on the negative ways that exposure of our data and a lack of awareness of its possible infringement and loss might affect us politically – now and in the future. When did we agree to facial recognition in supermarkets? Who, exactly, is extracting the value from your data and what are they doing with it? Featuring original tracks from Claire’s self-founded primary school pop group (remastered by Jakwob – who has worked with Charli XCX, Robyn, Aurora, and Little Simz), the show reminds us that, even if you haven’t chosen a life of musical fame, you’re always being watched.
