This Friday is International Women's Day so here's our pick of the best plays (and ballet) to go and see.
Staying Faithful
Where: Drayton Arms Theatre, London
“Chocolate Chilli Theatre are a new group putting women centre stage in bold, spicy stories everyone can get their teeth into.”
Personally, I trust any company that chooses to put Chocolate in their title, but even better, these guys are making way for more women on-stage. It is a well-established truth that stories with a leading lady are far less common than ones with a leading man. Companies such as this will be welcomed with open arms by female thespians that are consistently frustrated with the lack of female voices in the theatre industry.
Puppet and The Girl
Where: stage@leeds
Fancy something a little more experimental? Try out this immersive theatre piece written by the fabulous Rochyne Delaney Mcnulty. The 27-year-old graduate from Leeds Metropolitan University is one to fix your googlies on. Between creating art installations across the world and studying performance design, Rochyne has found time to create an visceral production about a young girl who discovers a lifeless figure in an abandoned school. The artist says about herself:
“Rather than being a pure creator, my practice has become more a method of facilitation; an operation of meaning. The fluid process of author and beholder collaborating on a seemingly arbitrary end point creates form in space, shared gestures and a dialogue which expands.”
Prepare to be immersed into another universe.
Victoria
Where: Leeds Grand Theatre
A ballet, I hear you say? Yes, that is correct. Although a ballet is a seemingly rogue choice and nobody has been to one since the 19th century, this collaborative production between Northern Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada is the perfect way to celebrate your womanhood. “Victoria” is the latest addition to a new trend in the arts: celebrating female monarchs (a trend I am very much enjoying). After being kick-started by the series 'The Crown', films such as 'The Favourite' and 'Mary Queen of Scots' have swept up an unholy amount of awards and nominations, with Olivia Coleman winning the Oscar for her role as Queen Anne. So, if you want to celebrate International Women’s day by being on-trend, this is the show for you.
Hang
Where: Crucible Studio, Sheffield.
It has been two long years since Debbie Tucker Green’s play ‘Hang’ graced the Royal Court’s stage in London. A short, bittersweet satire, the play is not just about capital punishment. Flirting with issues such as privatisation, justice, reconciliation, vengeance and bureaucracy, Taio Lawson’s revival is a tough watch but one that is necessary, especially considering the insidious racism that still saturates our society today. Debbie Tucker Green, the bad-ass of British theatre, will not fail to disappoint as we see the journey of one women's unspeakable decision.
Rouse Ye Women
Where: Midlands Arts Centre
And last, but certainly not least, is 'Rouse Ye Women', a new folk opera about Mary Macarthur and the women chain makers. Don’t let the words folk and opera put you off - the play tells the story of women who were hammering out small metal links for a fifth of their husbands wages. In 1910, after a strike that lasted a mighty ten weeks, these women won a landmark victory that led to the first minimum wage in this country. It is being put on by Townsend Productions who present touring theatre to audiences who are not within easy reach of a theatre centre or to those who wouldn't normally watch a play. They often use non-theatre venues such as village halls, community centres etc. This lively piece will keep you entertained throughout and will remind you of what many women went through and suffered to give us the life we lead today.
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