Review: Main Character Energy

As delivering on its titular promise goes, Temi Wilkey’s Fringe debut Main Character Energy couldn’t be truer to its name. Wilkey revels in her own attention seeking from beginning to end in an aesthetic thrill ride, complete with joyous audience interaction, musical heights, and a multitude of insightful and comedic breakdowns.

Impressive agility marks this show throughout, as Wilkey flicks the switch with ease between flamboyant and distraught, entertaining and provocative. For all that any one-person show risks skating around the edges of self-indulgence, Main Character Energy is an unashamed deep dive into it. Taking the crowd through traumatic school play experiences, reflections on aspirational stardom and diasporic identity, and one particular dilemma over how far she can ethically stretch her own indulgence, she is capable at almost anything she turns to.

Where other high adrenaline shows might be peppered with tokenistic depth, Wilkey’s emotional vulnerability is highly skilled and cleanly adds new dimensions to the show’s overall offer. The returns to high energy are no less exuberant, while laced with new questions around what it means for both individual and society to invite and reward such cries for attention.

When it comes down to it, she loves the attention, and the crowd can’t help but love giving it to her.