list.co.uk/festival Reviews | F E S T I VA L T H E AT R E
P H O T O :
C A M H A R L E P H O T O G R A P H Y
BRANDI ALEXANDER I am woman, hear me roar ●●●●●
After a five-year hiatus, Tatiana Pavela’s Brandi Alexander is back in the stand-up business and she has something not very funny to say: she was raped, and now she’s opening for her rapist. It might not sound like the premise of a fun show, but Brandi Alexander is an outrageously funny and shocking study of the position of women under rape culture. Pavela demonstrates a masterful understanding of the art of performance, both as a comedian and as a woman: her Brandi Alexander starts off eager and manically upbeat, a smile plastered on her face as she bounces from joke to joke, her humour crude and incisive and every second edging closer to discomfort. It’s when the anger shows, however, that
Brandi Alexander really comes into its own – a tour de force of female rage that won’t play nice anymore. Pavela viciously tears apart the broad gamut of misogyny and rape culture, from the power structures inherent in the comedy world to the complete lack of repercussions for men who perpetrate rape.
Fearless and uncomfortable, it’s a show that demands to be heard. (Anahit Behrooz) n Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre, until 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 9.45pm, £9.50-£10.50 (£8.50-£9.50).
FROM JUDY TO BETTE: THE STARS OF OLD HOLLYWOOD Celebrating four Hollywood greats ●●●●● BOBBY & AMY Bittersweet look at the foot-and-mouth epidemic’s impact on rural Britain ●●●●●
There is a fierce feminist undercurrent in Rebecca Perry’s celebration of the lives and work of four great Hollywood women: from Bette Davis’ sardonic humour to Lucille Ball’s clowning brilliance, these women challenged the status quo of the movies and discovered power and independence through their talent and hard work. While much of the tragedy in their lives is downplayed, especially in the case of Judy Garland, and the contemporary resonance is left to cheeky asides, Perry celebrates through song and anecdote a remarkable collection of women.
The pace of the show is dynamic and relentless:
sentimental rather than critical – except of those who sought to stifle the talent – it is a primer of the Golden Age of film that revives the joy inspired by these pioneers of feminism.
The musical numbers are solid and the anecdotes witty and resonant: Davis’ dry humour, Betty Hutton’s warm screen presence and Garland’s acceptance of her gay following in a time of public prejudice are all lauded. Despite the political subtext, Parry is as determined as her inspirations to entertain and delight. (Gareth K Vile) n Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, until 26 Aug (not 7,14, 21), 7.30pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).
‘The day the cows started burning, my community was changed forever’, says Emily Jenkins, writer- director of this new two-hander, looking at the impact of the early 2000s foot-and-mouth outbreak through the eyes of two teens. Bobby (Will Howard) and Amy (Kimberley Jarvis) are
both outcasts in their sleepy Cotswold town; Bobby can’t seem to work out social interactions, and Amy has turned inward after the death of her father. When they bond helping out the village farmer, life becomes a little easier as a pair. Soon foot-and-mouth disease rears its ugly head and the community is torn apart.
With the colourful mix of village characters
portrayed by Howard and Jarvis, the dexterity at which they switch from the likes of the chippy owner to vapid school bullies is slick and charming. The poignancy of the piece is in the quiet ways the epidemic impacted rural communities and the fact that such harrowing consequences have not yet made it into the widespread cultural consciousness. It’s a bittersweet ode to the forgotten voices who were drowned out in the wake of a national catastrophe. (Katharine Gemmell) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 12), 12.45pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).
P H O T O :
P A M E L A R A T H
I
RIPPED A taboo-breaking one-man show about male-rape ●●●●●
What is it to be a ‘real man’? What are the obstacles to being comfortable with your own sexuality, and how can you reconstruct a sense of self which has been damaged by a violent sexual act? Ripped is a play looking to explore the taboo subject of male rape. Written by and starring Alex Gwyther, Ripped takes no prisoners in its unswerving efforts to portray an unpleasant truth. Ninety-six percent of male rape goes unreported, according to Gwyther, and his show, directed by Max Lindsay, attempts to suggest why. Jack (Gwyther) sits watching Rambo movies with a friend; whatever brutality he encounters, Rambo doesn’t flinch, Rambo doesn’t bleed. From Jack’s point of view, the stoic quality of the Sylvester Stallone character is something to look up to.
Jack has a secret to hide, something that no amount of male camaraderie, manipulative sexual encounters and snorted lines of white powder can delete. Eventually, the past catches up with Jack, and he’s forced to face up to what he most fears in this challenging one-man show. Gwyther has the knack of capturing the audience’s attention
as he brings Jack to life. The weakness here is that Jack’s understanding of his situation is limited. His reaction to his trauma is presented in binary terms: he’s either a victim or an aggressor. There are no grey areas here; he acts out in a physically and emotionally violent way, and he’s caught in a negative cycle. How that cycle might be broken or even addressed isn’t clear. There’s a lot of pain in Ripped, but there’s also a lack of humanity that might illuminate Jack’s problems. Gwyther has run a successful Kickstarter campaign to put this brave play on and, based on these results, he’s not far from a breakthrough show about this distressing but undeniably important subject. (Eddie Harrison) n Underbelly Cowgate, until 25 Aug (not 12), 1pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).
7–14 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 97