‘Body or Soul’ by Fury Theatre Review
Written by Bronagh for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Selling your soul for a £45k job at a fast fashion brand or selling your body online to faceless strangers? Body or soul… which would you choose? How would you feel crossing the moral line? These are the questions that remain on our minds well after lights on at the Omnibus Theatre.
Body or Soul tells two different stories, both relating to Jess and an important choice she has to make. Should she accept the £45k a year job which comes with all sorts of terms and conditions as well as a reputation for using child labour, or should she reject the job based on everything she believes in morally to become an ‘OnlyCams’ girl to fund her musical ambitions? Both worlds are murky and the moral line is totally blurred and stepped over. Throughout the hour we see both worlds cross over, parallel universes which completely depend on just one decision that Jess needs to make in her desperation for needing to find a job post-graduation. As Jess asks her sex worker friend Beth in both worlds – ‘is she selling out’?
Body or Soul taps into so many current issues, for me, exploitation was particularly prominent. Effectively Jess is pimping herself out in both situations; we see how she goes ‘live’ for fast fashion brand Gapu every Friday in order for her follower count to grow and then we see her create a ‘menu’ for her online sex work and the demands from strangers to see intimate parts of her body. Fury Theatre has done something very clever with this, weaving together two very different types of exploitation to create a thought-provoking show.
It isn’t all doom and gloom, Body or Soul is also funny in parts, not shying away from the nitty-gritty of both worlds. Who knew jokes about fast fashion hauls and those about Bridgerton-style sex shows work so well. A lot of the humour comes from Beth, who works as an online sex worker in both universes, but always brings it back to the fact this work is allowing her freedom and to pay for a master’s. This is a contrast to Gapu-world Jess dreaming of paying for fancy hotels with her new salary.
We can only do so much with an hour, but I do feel like things could have been expanded on a little more. We see the effect on Jess’ relationship with Callum, and his disdain in both universes. It would have been interesting to know the effects or thoughts of, for example, family members even just in a passing comment. OnlyCams Jess seemingly comes out as the ‘winner’… but why is this? Sex work is work, but there are still elements of exploitation and dark downsides. Freedom with money and your own hours sounds wonderful on paper but coupled with troll comments (which do get mentioned), potential safety concerns, breakdown of relationships and odd requests from these faceless strangers.
Do either world really come out on top? Both Jess’ are putting themselves out there online, in a world where the internet never forgets.
Fury Theatre is a fairly new theatre company, female led and concentrating on the female gaze and voice. I’m certainly going to look into their work after watching Body and Soul and would urge anybody else to do so. Their work is aimed at all genders, according to their website believing that to be a feminist you must be an equalist too. Body or Soul fitted right in at the Omnibus Theatre, a lovely theatre off Clapham Common which champions all sorts of theatre, leaving nobody behind.
Body or Soul is a really interesting view into the parallel worlds which come from one decision, not shying away from topics which are current and should be spoken about. Fantastic work from Fury, however, I would love to see a little more of a deep dive into the worlds that we visit.
Body or Soul plays at Omnibus Theatre as part of Chronic Insanity.
★★★
