Books › How to Fail as a Popstar

Published 2 March 2021 by Arsenal Pulp Press

How to Fail as a Popstar is Vivek Shraya’s debut theatrical work, a one-person show that chronicles her journey from singing in shopping malls to “not quite” pop music superstardom with beguiling humour and insight. This astonishing work is a raw and humourous reflection on the power of pop culture, dreams, disappointments, and self-determination.

This print edition of the script includes colour photographs by Dahlia Katz from the show’s Toronto production in February 2020, a foreword by director Brendan Healy, and an afterword by Vivek.

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Foreword by Brendan Healy
Cover photo by Heather Saitz
Photography by Dahlia Katz

Alberta bestseller

Shraya may not have reached the top echelon of pop stardom, but sharing her persistence and self-discovery just might be a bigger gift. After all, these are the stories we rarely hear told.
— NOW Magazine

It’s a moving tale that any person who’s struggled to achieve their dreams can easily relate to, and Shraya has a certain magnetism to her performance that keeps the one-woman show moving fluidly.
— Broadway World

An important show from such an important artist! Everyone should see How to Fail as a Popstar!
— Bif Naked, Artist

A funny, warm, and honest show by a rare, 360-degree talent.
— Denise Balkissoon, Executive Editor at Chatelaine

The work of radical self-acceptance is so challenging I never want to do it. In this piece of art, Vivek’s fearless vulnerability, steady gaze, and sure hand create another way in, an opening, and all I have to do is show up. Now it’s your turn. Lucky you.
— Elvira Kurt, Teacup Butch, Comedy Legend, and Writer for Canada’s Drag Race

Vivek Shraya’s How to Fail as a Popstar is a McGuffin—the play is a demonstration of Shraya’s virtuosity as a performer, a songwriter, and writer, and is anything but a failure. Popstar is a cutting and hilarious look at the spark and afterglow of any musician entering the industry—the adolescence, adulthood, and moribundity of this creative life-within-a-life. She claims to not ‘have the range,’ but Popstar demonstrates the opposite—a multidisciplinary artist at the height of her powers.
— Owen Pallett, Violinist and Composer