list.co.uk/festival Feminist Shows | FESTIVAL THEATRE
Left: The Fanny Hill Project. Above: the cast of Nirbhaya. Below: Alan Bissett’s Ban This Filth!
P H O T O © D A V D B R Y C E
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in their heads to be honest with themselves, because I know I’m going to be judged for it whatever I say. People are either going to be like “oh my God, I can’t believe that he’s actually admitting these things, that’s disgusting” or they’re going to be like “mate, is that all?”’
Through his show, Bissett hopes other men will engage with a little feminist thinking too. ‘For me, [the challenge to feminism is] how do you get the men? As a man, that’s why I think me doing this show is relevant. For the guys in that audience who think “holy shit, I thought I was just having a wank”, and you’re like “well, you are, but it’s an ideological wank, mate”. It’s a wank that’s bound up by the patriarchy. A wank is not a wank any more.’
The Fanny Hill Project is another show looking at pornography. It takes John Cleland’s 1748 novel, the i rst pornographic book ever published, and turns it on its head, using it as a starting point to examine how the sex industry ini ltrates the media. The show has what must be one of the most unusual background stories of any performance at this year’s Fringe. It was inspired by the experiences of one member of TheatreState, the company behind the project, who ended up working in a foot fetish club while trying to support themselves through an arts internship. The disparity between that experience and the media’s portrayal of sex work (the empowered, liberated depictions in shows like Secret Diary of a Call Girl) led to a desire to explore society’s hyper-sexualised culture.
Tess Seddon, one of the show’s directors, believes today’s media is
‘This time next year I don’t believe the zeitgeist will remain’
rife with ‘misogyny [wrapped up] in thick levels of irony and humour’, making it especially difi cult to critique or speak out about sexism. ‘The main thing about The Fanny Hill Project is that it encapsulates the mania of the media and how they treat young women as society’s prize,’ she says. ‘We’re exploring that madness, and how we’re all obsessed with gender roles, both women and men, and how confusing it is. We’re exploring how complicit the audience are in these events, like these panel shows where the audience are cheering and whooping, especially on Celebrity Juice every time they mention the word “tits”.’
From gender-based violence and pornography to the media representation of women, these shows are dealing with big, pertinent topics. Yet they are equally based in personal experience. Feminism might be a word that continues to generate mixed responses on the street, but these stories are likely to strike a chord with all who encounter them.
Nirbhaya, Assembly Hall, 623 3030, 3–26 Aug (not 12, 19), 4pm, £14–£16 (£13–£15). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £10.
Ban This Filth!, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 556 9579, 2–11 Aug, 9pm, £12 (£10). Preview 1 Aug, £8. The Fanny Hill Project, Zoo, 662 6892, 4–26 Aug, 4.05pm, £8 (£6). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £5.
1–8 Aug 2013 THE LIST FESTIVAL 77