CurtainUp
CurtainUp

The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings
www.curtainup.com


HOME PAGE

SITE GUIDE

SEARCH

REVIEWS

REVIEW ARCHIVES

ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP

FEATURES

NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings


LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway

NYC Restaurants

BOOKS and CDs

OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere

QUOTES

TKTS

PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS

LETTERS TO EDITOR

FILM

LINKS

MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp London London Review
The Female of the Species



Why are they French? (talking about the French windows) Because they are stylish, thin and up themselves!— Margot
The Female of the Species
Eileen Atkins as Margot Mason
(Photo: Manuel Harlan)
Australian Joanna Murray-Smith's comedy The Female of the Species is based on a real life incident in the life of her compatriot, the feminist, academic and writer Germaine Greer. It received its worldwide premiere in Melbourne in 2006.

Eileen Atkins, playing the famous feminist Margot Mason, is stalked by her student, Molly (Anna Maxwell-Martin) who blames the unfortunate incidents in her personal life on theories propounded by the university lecturer. Murray-Smith begins her play with a light-hearted comparison of feminist theory and ends it as a full blown farce with other characters thrown into the calamitous mix.

Although I really appreciated Murray-Smith's Honour in its outing at the National Theatre with Atkins and Maxwell-Martin, I enjoyed it less with Diana Rigg and Martin Jarvis in the West End. Atkins is always an absolute joy to watch onstage but I fear without her fascinating performance The Female of the Species might be very disappointing.

In the opening scene, Atkins is seen relaxing at home. In a symbolic homage to the bra burning feminists of the 1960s and 70s and in an act worthy of a contortionist, she manages to remove her bra from under her sweatshirt while on the phone. Atkins is in fine form. Her Margot Mason is self absorbed, conceited and arrogant and yet for all this, tremendously likeable! You can see the leeching quality of the writer as, stuck in a writer's block, Margot uses every incident, every phrase critically to see if it could bring an added dimension or new slant to her overdue book. Anna Maxwell-Martin is the strange, geeky young woman, in an anorak, backpack worn on both shoulders, ungainly and awkward who points out the inconsistencies in Margot's writing and the catalogue of personal disasters which have resulted from Ms Mason's writing.

Molly handcuffs Margot to her desk but Margot's daughter Tess (Sophie Thompson), about whom Margot has been caustic within Tess's earshot, arrives after a crise in her life as housewife and mother. Tess begs Molly to shoot her mother! These three are soon joined by Tess's husband, the ghastly Bryan (Paul Chahidi). This modern day male version of Mrs Malaprop encourages us to think inside the box and talks about the sexual act of performing "Horatio". A taxi driver (Con O'Neill), in touch with his feminine side, who cries in the movies and asks for directions when he is lost, enters angry that he has shared his life with Tess while she was a captive audience in the back of his taxi and she has run off. Finally, Margot's publisher Theo (Sam Kelly) shows up and the plot starts to feel like an anarchic Mamma Mia. "Are we talking feminist, post feminist or post, post feminist?" asks Margot.

The set, the writer's study and book filled sitting room looks out onto the English countryside with cows in the distance. The farce and feminist theory critique sit unhappily with each other and some of the humour seems to miss the mark but that may be an Aussie/Pom cultural mismatch. There is much to smile and groan at but nothing which had me laughing out loud. Bryan, the anti-feminist husband with the positive outlook about mothers caring for their children is effusive but rather dim. Tess expresses her wish to be dominated by a fantasy macho male. To answer a version of the Wife of Bath's question in Chaucer as to what it is that women want men to do more of, Murray-Smith's suggestion is "Foreplay and tax".

The Female of the Species
Written by Joanna Murray-Smith
Directed by Roger Michell

Starring: Eileen Atkins, Anna Maxwell-Martin
With: Sophie Thompson, Sam Kelly, Con O'Neill, Paul Chahidi
Design: Mark Thompson
Lighting: James Whiteside
Sound: Matt McKenzie
Running time: One hour forty minutes without an interval
Box Office: 0870 890 1101
Booking to 4th October 2008
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 17th July 2008 performance at Vaudeville Theatre, The strand, London WC2 (Tube: Charing Cross)
REVIEW FEEDBACK
Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
  • I agree with the review of The Female of the Species
  • I disagree with the review of The Female of the Species
  • The review made me eager to see the The Female of the Species
Click on the address link E-mail: esommer@curtainup.com
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V):

Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email and state if you'd like your comments published in our letters section.

a list of all book reviews, see our,
VALVESGate valvePRESSURE VALVESGlobe valveCHECK VALVES
London Theatre Tickets
Lion King Tickets
Billy Elliot Tickets
Mighty Boosh Tickets
Mamma Mia Tickets
We Will Rock You Tickets
Theatre Tickets
Google
high pressure valve
manual valvevalvesvalve company motorized valveball valvepressure valve buy valvebutterfly valve Check valvereturn valve
Web    
www.curtainup.com
London Theatre Walks


Peter Ackroyd's  History of London: The Biography



London Sketchbook



tales from shakespeare
Retold by Tina Packer of Shakespeare & Co.
Click image to buy.
Our Review


©Copyright 2008, Elyse Sommer.
Information from this site may not be reproduced in print or online without specific permission from esommer@curtainup.com