A group of five girls at a sleepover find the host’s mother’s box of objects which, they hope, contains some clues as to what ‘gender’ is. Finding a pink dummy, one says, ‘This is to shut you up from the moment you’re born’. There is, then, anger in this show, emerging from feminist, transgender and gay rights perspectives in each of the sketches. Not finding any further clues as to what ‘gender’ is, they then proceed to chant the word as a mantra while searching for it somewhere in the crowd.
It is more a collection of politically charged sketches than one extended play with a linear plot. As a result, the transitions can sometimes seem jarring between shockingly personal anecdotes to savagely ironic humour. It commences with an example of the latter, the five actors acting as five members of a Parent-Teacher Association attempting to tackle the rising tide of ‘lesbianism’ as if it were an infection. Yet this sense of irony is tempered with moments of beauty, such as the opening harmony singing – all coming together to form an all-round unusual experience of disparate yet fused elements.
Personal experiences form the backbone to the content of the play, with each member of the highly talented cast drawing on their own experiences of the issues portrayed to create a unique and unforgettable tapestry of the feminine experience. Each performance night is different from the last, with different stories in different forms making it – yet fundamentally, each night aims to create a similar picture; though different, always showing the notions of ‘gender’ in all their complexities.
So it becomes clear from the outset to the viewer (watching from within metres of the performance) that you will be watching a play with roots in satire. Yet also the play does not descend into purely becoming a comedy, the more emotive sections have left an indelible mark in my mind.Notably, they ask themselves (and ask the audience, reading the responses the audience wrote from the night before) ‘when was the last time you felt powerful?’
This simple question throws up so many of the issues regarding gender and sexuality that the play attempts to address. Many of the responses refer to odd, individual moments that appear to border on the mundane, others state simply that they do not recall the last time they felt powerful, or indeed, that they simply have never felt powerful. The pink dummy from the box comes to my mind when I imagine this – feeling trapped, and disempowered, by preconceived notions of what it means to be a woman.
Yet what this play attempts to show, through humour and deeply personal stories, is that the notion of empowerment is so intertwined with a self-definition of gender. It is a reminder of the adage that ‘one is not born, but rather becomes a woman’. And as such, I recommend those not lucky enough to see it at the Manchester Fringe, to see it at the Edinburgh Fringe if they can. It is an unmissable experience.
