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FFS! (A Feminist Fable Series)

The Space

Reviewed – 6th March 2019

★★★★

“All three pieces are written with wit, nuance and understanding”

With International Women’s Day just around the corner, the question remains: how do we deal with the problems facing women today? How do we tackle everyday sexism, unspoken fears and societal pressures? Wonderbox have the answer – to discuss them frankly and honestly whilst also finding the funny side. And that’s exactly what every piece in their show Feminist Fable Series does.

The first piece, StilettNO!, tackles workplace double standards. Jac (Carla Garratt) is an office temp whose boss, Jack (Jack Westgate), tells her that female employees are required to wear heels. For some reason, Jac objects. ‘Why?’ Jack wonders. Luckily, the narrator (Danica Corns) is on hand to guide the bewildered Jack through this difficult situation. Corns’ gently acerbic narration is the highlight of this play, which is well-written if a little abrupt in its ending.

The Night is without question the funniest of the three. Jessica (Corns), Gemma (Garratt), and Liz (Alice Merivale) need to get home after a house party. Walk? No way. Night bus? Not after last time. Taxi? Didn’t know you were up for getting kidnapped. As the girls figure out what to do, their conversation moves beyond the problem with men and onto their problems with each other. The three actors have great chemistry; they are a very recognisable group of friends in a sadly relatable situation. Merivale deserves special mention for her fantastic performance as ‘sexless punchbag for Ofsted’ Liz, a primary school teacher who just wants to let go.

Sixth formers Stacey (Corns) and Harri (Garratt) are the focus of Category: Teen. Stacey has a boyfriend, Luke (Westgate), whose obsession with porn means he’s always up for sex. Which is great… except it’s only him that enjoys it. Harri wants a girlfriend, but is too shy to approach her crush. She could try and get sexual fulfilment through lesbian porn. Which would be great… except it seems that it isn’t actually for lesbians. The two friends must navigate these problems together – but how? This is by far the most complex and intriguing piece from FFS! Not only does it show pornography’s effects on young women, it also examines its impact on male behaviour and self-esteem. The sensitive acting of the ensemble is particularly striking. They carefully balance the light and serious moments, leading to a satisfying and heart-warming conclusion.

All three pieces are written with wit, nuance and understanding by Claire Rammelkemp, with Holly Bond as co-writer for The Night. The ensemble bring their words to life brilliantly, making the debates feel real and relevant. As a production it is a little clunky: set changes take quite a long time, and the use of large tables and chairs seems a little impractical. This does pay off for The Night, however, which set in a bathroom full of little details and surprises.

FFS! is the perfect response to female frustration: speak up, share your stories and, most importantly, find the humour in everything. Claire Rammelkemp was right. Feminists are hilarious.

Reviewed by Harriet Corke

Photography by Bethany Blake

FFS! (A Feminist Fable Series)

The Space until 9th March

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Little Pieces of Gold | ★★★★★ | October 2018

Love is a Work In Progress | ★★★★ | October 2018

The Full Bronte | ★★★ | October 2018

Woman of the Year | ★★★ | October 2018

Little Women | ★★★½ | December 2018

The Dip | ★★★★ | February 2019

The South Afreakins | ★★★★★ | February 2019

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com

★★★★★

“She is confident, technically brilliant, writes superbly and plays her roles entirely convincingly”

On the day of his retirement, Gordon is keen to slip into a life of white privilege, golf-playing and rugby-watching, expecting simply to wait and be waited on. To his wife, Helene, it’s now time to escape South Africa, leaving behind the terrors of pilfering maids, the violence of the disenfranchised black population – and her own imagination. It’s a short-lived debate. Despite the loss of lands, memories, dear old friends and Gordon’s flat-out ‘no’, they find themselves on a plane to New Zealand. They are an ordinary and hardly sympathetic pair, yet through their marital back and forth we get to know and like them better. Helene; bright and optimistic, with a lightly comic desperation, Gordon; leaden, stooped, but loyal and caring. Once settled in the promised land Helene thrives, Gordon declines, lost on the wrong side of his own life and yearning for home.

The script is an object lesson in writing about what you know. Robyn Paterson, an experienced TV and film performer and director south of the equator, has built up this play by listening with ruthless clarity to her own parents, and renders them both with deftness. Not only does she constantly toggle between the two throughout ninety minutes of rapid firing dialogue, she somehow word-paints the significant others in their lives in various one-sided conversations on phones and Skype. We get a sense, too, of the couple’s back story, most poignantly through Helene’s paintings of a tree outside, planted in memory of their dead son. The action itself takes us into planes, buses and a hospital room as well as their two homes, with scene changes effected endearingly by Helene herself, tidying away unwanted props in character while on the phone.

Dressed in a simple, black tee-shirt and jeans, Robyn Paterson seems to conjure up this whole world from within herself. It uses her childhood memories, her talent for mimicry and her family’s story, as well as playing all the parts; she even uses a practical lamp to operate her own light changes; The South Afreakins is a one-woman show of exceptional one-woman-ness. She is confident, technically brilliant, writes superbly and plays her roles entirely convincingly. How all this can apply to subjects other than her own family and to subjects other than white South African displacement in the 1990s, who knows? But in and of itself, this is a rare accomplishment that qualifies as a ‘must-see’.

Reviewed by Dominic Gettins

Photography by Tom Chaplin

The Space

Reviewed – 6th March 2019

★★★★

“All three pieces are written with wit, nuance and understanding”

FFS! is the perfect response to female frustration: speak up, share your stories and, most importantly, find the humour in everything. Claire Rammelkemp was right. Feminists are hilarious.

Reviewed by Harriet Corke

Photography by Bethany Blake

FFS! (A Feminist Fable Series)

The Space until 9th March

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

The Space

Reviewed – 20th February 2019

★★★★★

“She is confident, technically brilliant, writes superbly and plays her roles entirely convincingly”

Reviewed by Dominic Gettins

Photography by Tom Chaplin

The South Afreakins

The Space until 23rd February

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: