REVIEW: Werkaholics at Belvoir St Theatre 25A

Bold, curated and dripping with glamour Werkaholics performed at 25A leans into the nuanced and chaotic world of influencer culture. The show takes you on a journey of debt and betrayal all while trying to investigate capitalism, and if that sounds like a mouthful it’s probably because it is. 

Image by Lucy Parakhina

Werkaholics was like stepping into a saturated Instagram feed that’s come to life, sexy, and surreal. At the centre are Lilian, Australia’s latest It-girl, and Jillian, a struggling actor, backed by Sage the debt collector and influencer hater. These characters were brought to life by performers who clearly understand the rhythms of online culture. The casting of this show was brilliant, I couldn’t see any other actors in their roles and their comedic timing often saves moments where the writing wavers. Georgia Oom, Shirong Wu and Ruby Duncan carried this show with their commitment to their somewhat unlikeable characters. Sex sells and these girls gave us sexy, intelligent and funny. Their performances were A tier.

In fact I felt that much of the humour comes not from the script itself, but from the actors' delivery and direction from Nicole Pingon. Nicole Pingon’s direction was unashamedly stylised, pushing the show into a heightened reality where even silences felt posed, sitting the play in exactly the right genre it needed to be in. Every choice felt for the benefit of the piece, never missing an opportunity to make something interesting out of something seemingly mundane.  

I’d be remiss not to talk about the design in this show as it was everything! Every moment feels handpicked to be instantly screen-grabbable. The slick neon lighting from Frankie Clarke and the cyberpunk visuals from Harrison Hall made my face feel like it was melting (in the absolute best way possible), like a back alley club with a rat out front that requires VIP access, secretive and dirty but somehow still classy. The costume design from Ruby Jenkins is one of the best demonstrations of costume design I have seen from a show in a long time. Every outfit feels assembled by the character themselves, and screams for a #OOTD. The design of this show felt entirely cohesive and made a sometimes confusing plot line entirely entertaining, like stepping into the sexy acid trip of your dreams. 

Image by Lucy Parakhina

My biggest criticism of this play is that the writing often feels more like a visual essay than a cohesive, entertaining story. The humour comes alive through the actors’ delivery and the show’s design rather than the script itself, which sometimes lacks wit and falls too much into trying to be clever. At times, I found myself unsure of the plot’s trajectory, as if the show was more interested in making a statement (one I was unclear of by the end) than telling a story, which made it hard to follow. Needless to say the show's design and performances were undeniably bold and beautiful but like the social media world it skewers, Werkaholics felt sometimes more style than substance, coasting maybe a bit too much on the laurels of performance rather than the meat of the story itself.

Still, the production is bright and original. It’s a show that demands attention, dazzles with style, and flirts constantly with chaos. While it may not always be easy to decipher what's going on, it captures something about the strange, performative grind of modern life. Love it or not, you’ll leave the theatre with its images still flickering in your head, like scrolling through a feed long after you meant to log off.

3 Stars

Werkaholics plays until 17 August at 25A Bevloir St Theatre.

Grab Tickets here!