Stop The Presses

After submitting a video to become a television host, Isabella Valette got thinking about why do we subscribe to this celebrity culture – and Media Release was born.

Media Release is a performance about a young actress called April, who thinks that becoming a reality TV star will get her to where she wants to be in life – but sadly, this isn’t too uncommon of a story in real life. “I created a submission video to be a TV host where I impersonated a whole lot of different TV characters, and realised that most of them were actually reality TV stars. I then started thinking about fleshing out these characters, giving them a voice, and exploring their motivations for becoming reality stars and our motivation to watch them as the audience that sustains this industry.

“We explore not just reality television, social media, pop culture and women in the media, but the platform of narcissism this package deal offers to those who are exposed to it from a young age and are taught to aspire to it,” says Valette, the lead performer and concept designer of the show. Expect reworked pop songs (and one original composition) peppered into the storyline. 

Although Valette is a Melbourne Fringe Festival virgin who’s still trying to work out where to hang out in-between shows (sampling one of Courthouse’s Juicy Lucy burgers is on the agenda, though), she’s no stranger to performing. “I was involved in an original show in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, which also featured at Camden Fringe, and it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life… It just seemed natural that I would want to recreate that experience in my home town.”

Media Release
Melbourne Fringe Festival, 17-21 Sep and 23-28 Sep, Courthouse Hotel 2