SURVIVAL SHOW

Hoping to save her brother, a 17-year-old refugee enters Starmaker, a deadly idol competition that’s televised globally.

Seven years ago, when the sea swallowed Exeter, Taryn Beck resettled in the Scottish Border Camps. Illness took her mother’s life. Her family survives on rations and meager pay from Laborforce jobs, but her brother Jenson’s health depends on scarce, expensive medication or an unlikely liver transplant. With Jenson’s prescription running low, Taryn plans to drop out of school and start working—until she receives an incredible opportunity. Every year, about 250,000 people worldwide apply for Starmaker, around 1,000 get callbacks, 10 make it onto the show, and five, chosen by audience votes and a panel of judges, win a spot in the band. This time Taryn will be one of the lucky contestants living in the Dreamhouse in Media City, Michigan. Once the show begins, the stakes get even higher—each week, an eliminated contestant forfeits their life to Project Population, the show’s sponsor. Fast-paced and heart-wrenchingly suspenseful, this work combines the glitter, drama, and cutthroat competition of the pop music industry with the looming threat of death. Beneath the sparkle, the story explores the pervasive, violent impact of capitalism. Alongside Taryn, who’s white and queer, the cast includes a racially diverse international cast, as well as fat and transgender characters. Unfortunately, the shallow characterization veers into harmful tropes, diminishing the story’s appeal and impact.

A catchy premise but an off-key performance.