2023 National Women’s Theatre Festival (Part 3)
The mission of the National Women’s Theatre Festival is to create, produce, and promote extraordinary theatre by women and artists of all underrepresented genders with the ultimate goal of 100% parity in the US theatre industry. They gather artists from North Carolina and across the nation at their annual festival, helping to create a pipeline of extraordinary talent that will revolutionize theatre as we know it.
We Can Do It!
My Aunt Ronnie talked joyfully about her experiences during World War II as a Rosie the Riveter. The men went off to fight and women were called up to keep industries in motion. This short and thematically tight musical is about Daphna, a grandmother who had a similar story.
Daphna’s world was “cook, clean, hang it on the line” as described in the opening song. “Sweep the porch, hear the radio / Hold the baby, this is all we know”. Lyrics are focused and biting such as “I see the way he smiles at me / that’s my fame”. The war arrived and this world abruptly changed.
Instead of finding “a recipe to be a perfect wife” women picked up the torch and put “this pyrotechnic beauty in my hand”. Vividly written and confidently performed, this production beautifully chronicles this period with positivity, celebrates the trailblazing efforts and poignantly underscores the difficulties women still face today balancing career and family.
A virtual chorus of women on a projected screen supplement the tuneful guitar melodies. There are no lulls and the food for thought is plentiful with not a hint of bitterness. That does not mean the heartaches are avoided. Kenady Sean’s storytelling is too honest to let that happen.
Emotions about having a baby and simultaneously having a life are addressed head on. “Something’s Gotta Give” puts an exclamation point on that conundrum. 1941 sure did plant a seed. My Aunt Ronnie dutifully went back to housekeeping after the war. Others since have carved a different path.
We Can Do It! is a heartfelt acknowledgement of the trailblazers and a reminder that the important rights to choose remain complicated and very important.
Silent Reflections: A Clown-Noir Cabaret
“When I have a brand new hairdo” is a lyric from the song “I Enjoy Being a Girl”. This wry beginning perfectly sets the stage for a structurally interesting performance using a riff on the medium of silent movies. A series of wildly diverse stylizations are employed to make us reflect on women’s stereotypes.
Each segment has a subtitle. The targets speak for themselves. “Every Woman for Herself” imagines battling followed by bro-like chest bumps. Seated stop motion choreography while a clock ticks fill “Habitual Body Monitoring” until the bell literally tolls. A very dark cloud pointedly challenges the fairy tale notion that “Someday My Prince Will Come”.
“A Gentleman’s Interlude” amusingly skewers toxic masculinity and society’s overwrought calcification of what “a real man looks like”. Some of the moments are funny, some are meant to provoke while others are just perplexing. A section on baby rearing shows a jumble of phrases which are universally tossed around like “trust your instincts” and “do not vaccinate!”
A ranting song/poem/manifesto is called “Three Voices Speaking”. A list of everyday tools are repeated to dramatic effect. Cold creams, tweezers, wax, diffusers, crow’s feet, cellulite and body glitter are some examples cited. The mood darkens as women are urged to “squeeze it” and “sculpt it”. Then the zinger cuts deeply. “Blood clots and heat strokes… but your man will give you thanks”.
Silent Reflections holds a mirror to female insecurities, to societal pressures, to improbable expectations and to the damages that all creates. This live action silent film format nicely packages a mix of ideas. I did enjoy and “get” some scenes more than others. At the end, staring into their mirrors, I am certain these three women concluded that they did indeed do everything they wanted to do.
The 8th Annual WTF is running from June 22 through July 1, 2023 at North Carolina State University’s Frank Thompson Hall. Many performances are available online via livestream or prerecorded video.