“Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner”: A Fierce, Funny, and Urgent Exploration of Race, Identity, and Internet Culture

“Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner” is a provocative and unforgettable contemporary play that slices through internet culture, race, and capitalism with wit, anger, and urgency. Written by Jasmine Lee-Jones, this bold piece of Black British theatre takes its title from a viral tweet that kickstarts a digital rebellion. Far from a literal threat, the play uses satire and sharp dialogue to interrogate how Black culture is consumed, commodified, and exploited in the mainstream. Through experimental staging, fourth-wall-breaking narration, and millennial-coded language, it challenges the boundaries of what theatre can be in the digital age.

What Is Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner?

Premiering at the Royal Court Theatre in 2019, Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner follows Cleo, a 21-year-old Black British woman who ignites a social media firestorm after tweeting that she is going to list the “seven methods of killing Kylie Jenner.” While the title is designed to provoke, the heart of the play is not a literal desire for violence, but rather a scathing critique of cultural appropriation, capitalism, and the digital commodification of Black identity. As Cleo’s tweet goes viral, she descends into an emotional and psychological spiral that is mirrored by the rapid pace and intensity of social media commentary.

Cleo’s online persona begins to collapse under the weight of internet virality, while her relationship with her best friend Kara begins to fracture. Kara tries to anchor Cleo, but is also forced to confront her own complicity and privilege as a mixed-race woman who doesn’t always agree with Cleo’s uncompromising worldview. Their conflict represents a broader conversation about intra-community tension, intersectional feminism, and the messy, human side of activism.

Written entirely in contemporary internet dialects—including emojis, gifs, memes, and hashtags—the script mirrors the fast-paced, hyper-emotional environment of Black Twitter and digital protest movements. The play unfolds on both literal and metaphorical levels, as Cleo battles not only external backlash but internal grief and rage.

How Old Is Cleo in Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner?

Cleo is 21 years old. This detail is not incidental—it’s central to the play’s examination of generational dynamics, digital-native consciousness, and emotional volatility. As a young woman growing up in a world of curated Instagram feeds, viral activism, and algorithmic racism, Cleo is navigating the pressure of constant performance, both socially and politically. Her age underscores how difficult it is to form a stable identity when everything—your friendships, your politics, your self-worth—is filtered through the lens of social media.

Context Behind the Title

The title is intentionally jarring and serves as both a provocation and a form of commentary. It forces audiences to confront how modern society sanitises and monetises Black pain. Kylie Jenner, a white billionaire and social media influencer, becomes emblematic of the systems the play critiques—specifically, the appropriation and commodification of Black culture by those who hold social and financial power.

By invoking Jenner’s name, Lee-Jones draws attention to a global trend of celebrating Black aesthetics (plump lips, fuller figures, box braids) while excluding and marginalising Black voices. The play does not promote violence but rather uses satirical rage to question why white influencers are rewarded for embodying a look or style that historically led to Black people being vilified.

Key Characters

Cleo

Cleo is the protagonist and emotional core of the play. Passionate, brilliant, and deeply wounded, she channels her anger into witty, politically charged social media posts that both empower and isolate her. She is representative of many young Black women navigating life in a world where they’re hypervisible yet unheard. Her relationship to rage is complex—at times empowering, at other times corrosive—and the play invites audiences to sit with that discomfort.

Kara

Kara is Cleo’s best friend and foil. She is mixed-race, empathetic, and more inclined toward compromise and empathy. Kara represents the more measured activist voice, urging Cleo to think about nuance, complexity, and personal relationships. Through Kara, the play explores ideas of identity, privilege, colourism, and the often painful friction between different experiences within the Black diaspora.

How Is Cleo Characterised in Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner?

Cleo is a study in contradiction—blazing with certainty and lost in vulnerability. She is intellectual yet impulsive, confident online but falling apart offline. Her inner monologues are laced with humour, sarcasm, and critical insight. Yet underneath the sharpness is a young woman carrying immense emotional weight. She is grieving—not just for herself, but for generations of cultural theft, injustice, and erasure.

Cleo’s digital expressions—threaded tweets, emoji-laden memes, biting callouts—serve as both shield and sword. She uses the internet to create space for Black anger and truth-telling, but it also becomes a battleground that exhausts her. The character forces audiences to grapple with the psychological impact of always having to “perform” one’s identity, especially when that identity is marginalised.

Seven Methods as Metaphor

The “seven methods” are never explicitly outlined. Instead, they function as abstract expressions of Cleo’s frustration, each one tied to an emotional or ideological position:

• Method 1: Exposing the hypocrisy of influencer culture
• Method 2: Confronting racial double standards in beauty and media
• Method 3: Mourning the erasure of Black contributions
• Method 4: Holding space for generational rage
• Method 5: Dismantling capitalist feminism
• Method 6: Reclaiming digital spaces
• Method 7: Demanding emotional honesty

Each “method” is metaphorical—part manifesto, part emotional purge—and together they form a collage of resistance. The number seven evokes completeness, suggesting that Cleo’s outrage encompasses the full spectrum of her lived experience.

Major Themes and Messages

Cultural Appropriation

One of the most pressing critiques in the play is how white influencers and brands profit from Black aesthetics while distancing themselves from the lived realities of Black people. The play challenges the audience to interrogate who gets rewarded for wearing cornrows, using AAVE, or promoting “urban” culture—and who gets punished.

Digital Activism and Cancel Culture

Cleo’s use of Twitter as a weapon and a diary shows both the power and peril of online platforms. Her tweets gain traction, but they also invite harassment, misunderstanding, and emotional collapse. The play explores whether digital spaces can ever be truly liberating or whether they replicate the same hierarchies they claim to resist.

Capitalism, Influence, and Beauty

Kylie Jenner’s billionaire status becomes a launchpad to discuss structural inequalities. Who gets to be a self-made success story? Whose labour is invisibilised behind every viral trend? The play critiques capitalist narratives of empowerment and how wealth is often built on the backs of the very communities that are excluded from it.

Mental Health in a Hyperconnected World

Cleo’s breakdown is not a personal failing but a systemic one. She is overwhelmed by digital noise, racial trauma, and the pressure to constantly educate, resist, and survive. The play underscores the importance of acknowledging the mental toll of activism, especially when experienced in isolation.

Friendship and Intersectionality

At its heart, the play is about friendship. The rupture between Cleo and Kara reflects real tensions in communities grappling with intersectionality. Their arguments highlight how colourism, class, and lived experience influence one’s understanding of justice—and how solidarity is often forged in difficult, uncomfortable conversations.

Critical Reception and Awards

Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner debuted to critical acclaim and has since become a seminal work in modern British theatre. Jasmine Lee-Jones won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright, cementing her place as a bold new voice in contemporary drama.

The Guardian praised the play as “a blazing debut,” noting its innovation, urgency, and emotional resonance. Time Out called it “genre-smashing and unapologetic,” while The Stage, The Independent, and The Times highlighted its fearless interrogation of race, identity, and internet culture. Critics lauded its unconventional format, its integration of multimedia, and its emotional depth.

Why the Play Matters Today

Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner remains as urgent in 2025 as it was in 2019. In a world shaped by digital discourse, performative activism, and widening racial inequality, the play offers a mirror and a warning. It speaks to:

• Young people grappling with identity in hyper-visible online spaces
• Audiences seeking more honest depictions of racial tension and feminist struggle
• Creators interested in genre-defying, culturally specific storytelling

The play invites us to imagine what accountability, healing, and justice could look like if we actually listened to each other and to ourselves.

Where to Watch or Read It

• The script is published by Nick Hern Books and available for purchase in print or digital format.
• The play premiered at the Royal Court Theatre and has since been revived by various theatre companies focused on diverse and contemporary British voices.
• Check with digital theatre platforms, national touring companies, and local independent theatres for upcoming performances or streaming availability.

Final Thoughts

Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner is not just a play—it’s a cultural lightning bolt. It confronts hard truths with humour, intelligence, and unflinching honesty. It challenges us to examine how we participate in systems of oppression, how we use our voices, and what it really means to be “woke” in a world of curated optics and empty gestures.

Whether you’re a theatre enthusiast, a social activist, or someone just trying to make sense of the noise, this play offers clarity, chaos, and catharsis. Add it to your reading list. Recommend it. Talk about it. Let it linger.

Because some stories don’t fade. They echo.