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What is 'Seven Methods Of Killing Kylie Jenner'? New play BANS white reviewers and gets shredded

The play around two black women who kick up a social media storm when one of them calls out Kylie Jenner over her privilege

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Producers of the internationally acclaimed play 'Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner' have demanded that all the reviewers of the play should be 'people of color', effectively trying to ban white critics from reviewing it, according to Daily Mail. This has prompted the arts editor of The Age newspaper, Elizabeth Flux, to lash out at the producers in a fiery column.

Elizabeth Flux is a freelance writer and editor at large for the Melbourne City of Literature Office. Flux called the producers' stance "misguided" and "tokenism". In her column, Flux claims that a theater reviewer was lined up for the play but a message was received from the producers Amylia Harris and Leila Enright, saying that "people of color" would be preferred. Flux has lashed out at the producers, saying that the move "undermines the health of the critical landscape, and does a disservice to critics, creatives and audiences alike."

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What is 'Seven Methods Of Killing Kylie Jenner'?

'Seven methods of killing Kylie Jenner' is a play written by award-winning British playwright Jasmine Lee-Jones. The story revolves around two black women, played by Iolanthe and Chika Ikogwe, living in the UK who find themselves in the midst of a social media storm when one of them calls out influencer and “self-made billionaire” Kylie Jenner over her privilege, according to DailyMail. It explores cultural appropriation, queerness, friendship, and the ownership of black bodies online and in real life, as stated by the website of Royal Court Theatre.

Flux in her column appreciated the play and wrote, "It's sharp and funny, filled with biting social commentary and, in this iteration staged at the Malthouse, powered by stellar performances by Chika Ikogwe and Iolanthe." She agreed that white stories have dominated the discourse for long but added, "Commitment to diversity doesn’t mean having people only critique work that matches up with their skin color or their sexuality or their gender. It means having more voices speaking up on everything."

She called the parameters of the producers "monolithic" and wrote, "It’s ridiculous to me that by the producers’ parameters I, as a Hong-Kong-born Eurasian who was raised in Australia, am more equipped than a white critic to understand and critique a show about black women caught up in a social media storm in the UK. It is similarly ridiculous that only someone with an identical lived experience to characters in a play or film – which, at the stage of assigning a reviewer, we won’t have seen yet and so don’t know all the intricacies – would be able to review it properly."

Flux concluded, "We need informed opinions not fewer opinions, and we don’t build a healthy culture of criticism by slicing people out. We do it by adding more people in, and making sure that everyone leaves their biases at the door."

Several people have taken to Twitter against the alleged ban on white critics. "You want to be accommodating with racism? how about if someone demands that no blacks play in a movie? or if other racists,like you AmyliaHarris and LeilaEnright, demand that no Asians participate in the Oscars? or that only white European referees can referee the next World Cup?" wrote a user. "This is somewhere beyond absurd, isn’t it. Since when do artists and those who produce and publish them get to decide who the reviewers/critics will be? It makes a nonsense of the whole idea of arts critique," added another.

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