A provocative, incendiary and searing insight into the current creative and political climate.
A writer’s big break arrives in the most unlikely of places: a mega-corporation several layers deep beneath an undisclosed parent company. Tobias, a novelist making the leap into screenwriting, has been brought in to help develop a new television show. What initially appears to be the career opportunity of a lifetime quickly becomes a surreal descent into corporate bureaucracy, endless data, increasingly absurd creative briefs and the relentless demands of those further up the chain.
As Tobias attempts to navigate this corporate labyrinth, he is forced to confront a rather more serious question: how much of himself is he willing to sacrifice for his career? With the very real threat of nuclear annihilation looming over proceedings, Target Audience asks whether Tobias can retain his morals and artistic integrity while writing the show that might finally make his name.
At its heart, Target Audience is a thoughtful and frequently hilarious piece of theatre that tackles some of the most pressing moral questions facing artists today. Should art be lucrative? Should artists be expected to compromise their morals and creative instincts simply to survive? Where does artistic integrity end and capitalism begin? And, perhaps most provocatively, does any of it actually matter?
The strength of the production lies in its ability to wrap these weighty questions in an entertaining and accessible premise. Rather than delivering a straightforward lecture on the relationship between art and commerce, the play explores its ideas through the increasingly ridiculous demands placed upon Tobias. The corporate machine becomes a playground for examining the compromises artists make, the metrics by which creativity is increasingly judged, and the uncomfortable reality that artistic freedom is rarely entirely free.
There is an appealing absurdity to the world of Target Audience, particularly in the contrast between Tobias’s ambitions as an artist and the soulless machinery surrounding him. The play understands the ridiculousness of trying to quantify creativity and the strange compromises that can arise when art becomes a product designed to satisfy algorithms, executives and shareholders.
While the production occasionally feels as though it has more questions than answers, this is ultimately part of its appeal. Target Audience does not attempt to neatly resolve the tension between artistic integrity and commercial success. Instead, it leaves the audience to wrestle with the uncomfortable possibility that compromise may be inevitable.
Thought-provoking, entertaining and sharply relevant, Target Audience is a smart piece of theatre with plenty to say about the precarious position of the modern artist. It may not answer all of its questions, but it certainly leaves you asking them long after the curtain falls.
Show Listing: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/target-audience
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: Above at Pleasance Courtyard
Dates: Aug 5th -30th (exl. 17th)
Time: 16:50 (70 mins)
Ticket prices: £14.50 / Concessions £13.50 / Family £13.50
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com
Suitable for 12+