Fun with feminism
"Man's
timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say,
For the Woman that God gave him isn't his to give away;
But when hunter meets with husbands, each confirms the other's
tale—
The female of the species is more deadly than the male."
That quote from Rudyard Kipling's poem almost encapsulates
the message behind this play, which although essentially a farce,
also has a lot more to say. Almost like Ray Cooney meets Germaine
Greer! The story has its origin in an incident on April 23 2000,
where Germaine Greer was held hostage by a 19 year old girl from
the University of Bath.
Amanda Muggleton is wonderful as feminist writer,
Margot Mason. She has a difficult role, as her character is not
allowed to let go completely in the way that some others are,
and also because she spends much of the play handcuffed to a desk!
While writing at home, her peace is invaded by Molly, played by
Rhiannon Owen, in just the right balance between intelligence,
devotion and madness.
Margot's daughter, Tess, is a mess. She arrives
in the middle of this already farcical situation, and turns it
up a few notches! Michaela Cantwell has a ball in a role that
is almost straight out of 'Mum's the Word.' A harried mother of
three, all tears and anger, in search of adventure and her father.
Tess's sensitive new age husband, played to a tee
by Peter Michell, also arrives on the scene, followed by the newly
unreconstructed taxi-driver, played by Tony Briggs. Geoff Revell
is a delight as Margot's over the top publisher, with a secret
to be revealed.
At first, it seems that the male characters are
less well formed than the female, but then it becomes apparent
that it is a very deliberate device to reinforce one of the messages
of the play – that many men have been forced into caricatures
of themselves, by attempting to conform to what the feminist movement
wants them to be like.
Director Catherine Fitzgerald has done a fine job
of mixing the more traditional elements of farce with the commentary
on the feminist movement, without allowing one to dominate the
other.
Designer Mary Moore has created a fantastic MacBook
stage, complete with running software, and with the addition of
realistic elements to the set.
This is feminist farce, fast and funny!
Simon Slade
