“an important and enlightening insight into the world of the modern woman”
Out of the chaos and trauma that is the ladies toilets, Out of Order, a new all-female theatre company bear forth a new nation; Virago. In a series of sketches ranging from monologues and spoken word poetry, to more abstract movement sequences, the audience are treated to an insight into each woman’s world, and the relationships that hold them together.
The piece is an important and enlightening insight into the world of the modern woman. The spoken word pieces cover a range of issues, discussing rape, domestic violence and slut shaming with tact and comedy, whilst retaining the respect that these subjects deserve.
The set is minimal, largely created from rolls of toilet paper and four stalls, but works to service and emphasise the words of the women over the trappings of production design. Transitioning from the tribal carnage of a ladies toilet during a night out, we are led through a series of abstract sketches by a doctor-turned-toilet attendant who has recently immigrated to the UK. We take her side as we watch the most intimate lives of the sisterhood, their hopes and fears, their losses and gains, their power and strength.
The standard of acting is good, if a little monotonous; the tone of some of the speeches feel a little undistinguished, and the characters are largely defined by their status as ‘girly girl’ and ‘tomboy’, but generally speaking, delivery is touching and realist. Particular genius is evident in the movement sections, which are flat-out hilarious, and reminds every woman in the audience of their own group of crazy but lovely girl-friends.
The only issue to give me pause on this piece is the question of representation and experience. Although the insights given feel honest and specific to the performers on stage, I would like to see this piece push further to provide a more accessible, wide ranging breadth of experiences; particularly addressing issues of intersectional feminism, and the undeniable privileges of race and class.
For me, Virago was a fantastic concept, executed well, but with a short half-hour run time, the piece felt it was missing some further development. I look forward to seeing this piece, and this company, develop past their comfort zone.
“the piece in its current state lacks theatricality”
Last Word Theatre’s new piece, The Invisible Condition, serves as a verbatim fragment poem, addressing the state of Mental Health Services in our current social climate through a collection of incomplete personal narratives. Incredibly relevant and informative, the piece speaks to a subject matter that demands awareness and consideration, however without a narrative through line or strong distinctive characters, the piece was left waning somewhat between documentary drama and research essay.
Verbatim theatre is a tricky beast to master; with an amorphous mass of textual information, often unrelated or contradictory, the task of weaving together a compelling theatrical narrative can be a daunting one. The Invisible Condition seems to struggle with this task, occasionally edging more towards a presentation that a piece of theatre. In this style, the overwhelming variety of characters and stories, presented largely through direct address, often leaves the audience groping for some form of concrete centrepiece to tie it all together.
Despite this lack of structural integrity, the stories that are told are pregnant with humanity and tender with the stories of those who’s voices are left unheard. Navigating between the testimony of medical professionals, patients and academics, the full compliment of those that make up Mental Health services are present and correct, and a full array of perspectives and arguments are exchanged.
Some really beautiful moments of acting came through in more intense moments of pure monologue and character, extended sections of speech which allowed the audience to invest in the story of a single character, and the occasional theatrical and metaphorical use of props was greatly appreciated, and contrasted well with the simplicity of the aesthetic. However, largely speaking, the piece in its current state lacks theatricality and focus of attention and is in desperate need of strong visual cues or movement to break up the performance of the text and bring a more contextualised understanding of the stakes of these incredibly powerful stories.
