Tragedy! (a new comedy)

We live in an era captivated by social media, smart phones and pop culture. People are famous for their food/fashion/travel photos on Instagram selling their lifestyle brand. And kids can’t sit still without the hypnotising help of games like Angry Birds. It’s such a huge problem that movements such as ‘slow living’ are popping up, designed to get people off their phones and savouring a simpler lifestyle. What would the ancient Greek gods have to say about all this? Tragedy! (a new comedy) is a humorous look at people’s addictions to everything from Facebook to frappuccinos from the point of view of a Greek god looking down on today’s selfie-obsessed, consumer culture.

Elizabeth Scales’ cabaret show is playing at the iconic The Butterfly Club as part of the Melbourne Cabaret Ring Festival, which was premiered to many crowds at the 2016 Anywhere Festival in Brisbane. It pokes fun at modern society with a production inspired by Greek tragic texts, combining songs and original modern chorus works.

Scales believes people’s obsession with social media and their phones is tragic and that it detracts from their ability to interact with one another in a genuine and present sense. ‘It is sad that society is becoming more and more self-absorbed where image is more important than integrity,’ says Scales.

Opening up about what the audience will get out of the show, Scales divulges that ‘the audience will definitely get the chance to have a good laugh at themselves and the struggle we all have in our privileged lives living in a first world country.’

This comical, satirical, tongue-in-cheek show is for anyone wanting to reflect on how ridiculous some aspects of modern culture have become. The pop culture references and re-lyricised pop songs revolve around the story of ancient gods having to restructure in order to become relevant to the modern day world. It’s not every day a Greek god asks you to attend a meeting regarding their redundancy. And it will give you a great reason to get off your phone, if only for the duration of the show.

Tragedy! (a new comedy) 
The Butterfly Club, Carson Place, off Little Collins Street
Friday, 14 to Sunday, 16 July 2017, 7pm to 10pm
thebutterflyclub.com/show/tragedy-a-new-comedy