 Women
on the brink
Three talented young actresses, Tracy Holsinger, Karen Balthazaar and
Michelle Perera, having formed a new theatre company called Mind Adventures
with the aim of giving Sri Lankan theatregoers something refreshingly different
to the usual fare (and - they say - to make lots of money) launched their
project last week with a production of David Hare's cerebral comedy, Slag,
at the Legends nightclub. A clever choice of location for a cleverly written
play.
Slag was written in 1970 and tackles the sujet du jour of the time -
feminism and female emancipation. It is here, if anywhere, that the production
tend to fall down a little. Whilst it is indubitably true that feminism
or the rights of women are still very much a pertinent issue - especially
in a relatively unenlightened patriarchal society such as ours - and the
piece is very well written, the fact remains that the script becomes somewhat
dated almost thirty years on. I do not think that this affected the atmosphere
of the production too adversely, but the play's import could have been
made more realistic by a light updating of the script, most notably the
references to real people and popular culture.
The play centres around three women living in the closeted atmosphere
of "Brackenhurst College", an English Public School. The three
are of entirely different age and temperament to each other: Anne, the
school's headmistress, is middle-aged and prefers to see the world through
the eyes of tradition; Elise ( a Northern lass whose name came about as
a result of misspelling "Elsie" on her birth certificate), somewhat
ditzy, the most moderate of the three; and 19-year-old Joanne, an aggressive
male-hating feminist whose revolutionary zeal barely conceals her naive
idealism. The three women lead a claustrophobic existence, in each other's
faces 24 hours a day as the school dwindles down to just eight students
and no other staff whatsoever.
(I was struck by how bizarre this play actually is: Hare presents a
serious discussion of a very real issue through a highly unrealistic situation.
The ultimate effect of seeing this production is a sensation of disjointedness
and one is left with the nagging feeling that the playwright employs the
farcical nature of the situation to subtly ridicule feminism as an equally
frivolous notion.)
The play is arguably more a study than a story, as the plot essentially
goes nowhere but the characters are carefully scrutinised and developed
through the course of its two hours or so. Very much more in the nature
of fringe theatre than anything else really and a difficult piece to tackle
in terms of retaining the interest of the audience. The choice of venue
certainly helped do this. The performers were very close to the audience
and were able to almost interact with the front rows, making the watchers
feel like they were part of the action.
The performances themselves were of a very high quality and the chemistry
between the three players, even on the usually nervous first night, was
evident to see. The title of an early Pedro Almodovar film, "Women
on the edge of a nervous breakdown", is a fair description of the
basic mindset of the three characters. Elsie nurses a phantom pregnancy
right up to the bitter end (even more odd than one would think when one
considers the fact that she hasn't actually had a coupling to base her
state upon), Anne veers through her days in a state of near-hysteria concealed
beneath a thin layer of perpetual optimism and Joanne seems about to kill
her fellows, the male world and herself at any given moment.
The roles are demanding ones and it is a credit to the three actresses
that they carried off their performances with aplomb. Tracy Holsinger looked
born to the role of the matronly Anne. Her performance was controlled and
professional, underlying her class as a thespian. It would have been easy
for her to have given in to the cartoonish nature of the character and
resort to clownery but she remained natural throughout, playing the part
of a woman hanging on to scarps of dignity as a last defence to perfection,
and even managing to lick Elise's feet with an air of indulgent frippery
as opposed to absolute degradation. Michelle Perera did well as the plain
Elise harbouring delusions of grandeur, combining a sort of austerity and
bookish gravitas with a generous slice of ribaldry.
Karen Balthazaar had perhaps the toughest role in that of Joanne - physically
demanding at any rate, given the number of times she had to fall over in
an entirely convincing manner. It would have been all too easy for someone
playing Joanne to overact, as the character is the most vociferous and
certainly the most demonstrative in gesture. Having seen Karen turn in
excellent performances in "Widows" and "Virgo Intacta",
I was not surprised to see how well she handled this role too.
On the whole then, "Slag" was entertaining and well performed.
The script was well crafted and contained some genuinely funny lines delivered
with gusto by the three members of the cast, each of whom was ideally matched
to their roles.
Joan to sing of Mandela
Joan Armatrading has been selected by the South African government to
write and release a song celebrating the country's most famous son, former
President Nelson Mandela.
Joan who is a British singer is taking the task very seriously. She
had met the former President during one of her previous visits to the country.
This is not the first time the former President has been referred to in
a special song. When he was serving a jail sentence the Special AKA release,
the song 'Nelson Mandela' was a plea to free him from jail. The song became
a rallying anthem for the anti- aparthied groups. Changes came to South
Africa with the advent of President De Klerk, Mandela's freedom and the
rest is history. The man is now retired but the government feels it is
high time they dedicate a special song for his work. The tribute to one
of the twentieth century's greatest leaders is due for release just before
Christmas.
Champions for the second week on the UK singles chart is the song 'Blue
(Daba Dee)' by Eiffel 65. The Italian trio behind the song have done very
well selling a little more than 500,000 copies in just two weeks. The catchy
tune and easy lyrics tend to stick in one's mind. Perhaps it is another
reason why it managed to grip the No: 1 for a second week. Looks like 'Blue'
is going to be another popular dance track in Lanka too.
No: 2 this week is the pop act S Club 7 with their newest offering 'S
Club Party'. The single is a follow-up to 'Bring It All Back' which topped
the chart in June. This new song is a little more scaled down, the beats
per minute slightly slower. S Club 7 are riding high in the UK on the strength
of the TV series in which the group members act called 'Miami 7.'
Shania Twain's 'Man, I Feel Like A Woman', checked into the UK chart
at No: 3. The single, a blend of country and pop follows her last huge
hit 'That Don't Impress Me Much'. Shania's success this week comes on the
strength of her album 'Come On Over' taking the No: 1 slot on the UK album
chart. The video of the song is a parody of the Robert Palmer video clip
'Addicted To Love'. Shania is now undoubtedly the most successful female
country star since Dolly Parton. It is hoped she too will not encounter
the same problems Dolly Parton has with trying to get airplay of songs
and albums.
Teen sensation Britney Spears' third single '(You Drive Me) Crazy' has
come into the chart at No: 5. It's a far cry from her two previous singles
'Baby One More Time' which reached No: 1 and 'Sometimes' which peaked at
No: 3.
Kelle Bryan has finally made it as a solo star. It must be a sigh of
relief for the ex-Eternal star. Her debut single 'Higher Than Heaven' entered
the chart at No: 14. There was growing concern about the song's chances
of success, but she has placed herself in the same bracket as another ex-Eternal
star Louise Nurding.
Geri Halliwell, the ex- Spice Girl in Canada recently for the music
awards has been saying she is looking for a Canadian male to fertilize
her eggs. So much for the promotion of English Womanhood.
The Bee Gees are to be honoured in set of postage stamps in the Isle
of Man where they were born this Christmas. The announcement was made last
Monday.
Despite all her troubles at Heathrow Airport last week, Diana Ross plans
to return to England this month to continue her work. She has yet to decide
if she is to take legal action for the way she was body searched by a woman
security officer at the London Airport.
Meanwhile Diana Ross has been nominated to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of
Fame - 2000.
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