It might have been a bit risky stumbling into the Neville Studio to watch Women’s Hour, barely-on-time, pint in hand, and sitting alone on the front row after awkwardly engaging in some pre-show chatter with the two performers, Becca and Louise. After all, with this being an overtly feminist, and quite up-close-and-personal show, I might get singled out and/or picked on. I resolved to stay put and take my well-deserved punishment.
This piece of theatre is anarchic and hugely satirical, relentlessly mocking society’s generally ridiculous attitude towards women with bizarre and brilliantly-executed humour. There are musical sections which are frequently hilarious, such as the rendition of a Courtney Love song with all the consonants taken out, and a crumpet-flinging rendition of Mambo No.5. The attacks on general misogyny are extremely effective in their simplicity, such as an acoustic guitar rendition of the jingle from a grotesque old Barbie advert that just repeated words like ‘fairy’, ‘flowers’ and ‘beautiful’ in various combinations. A similar treatment was given to the ravings of various YouTube commenters, which was as entertaining as it was depressing and poignant.
The two performers were incredibly in-sync throughout, and it was obvious they’ve both spent a lot of time over the years honing their comic talents. To my mind, one of the best ways of exposing and dismantling injustices in the world is through brutal, uncompromising humour, and these women do a superb job. Some of the repetition of certain media buzzwords got a bit tired, but they worked well in conjunction with a very snappy slideshow and projector. Additionally, I feel like the show’s very full-on and graphic final two minutes might not have been to the taste of all audience members, but it was so swift and sudden that I found it rather effective.
I have to admit that while writing this review, I do feel a bit like I’m treading on eggshells - or the chocolate fragments of smashed, needlessly-gendered Kinder eggs. I’ve had to rigorously proofread every sentence for possible traces of condescension or appropriation. Gender politics aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this show - it’s not easy to make something this funny which also tackles a very serious issue. Misogyny is something to get angry about, it’s true, but it’s also important to subject it to mockery. Sh!t Theatre do a brilliant job of attacking the injustices that women face, without running the risk of alienating those who might be on the fence about this whole feminism thing.
Women’s Hour was performed by Sh!t Theatre on Friday 11 – Saturday 12 March at Nottingham Playhouse.
Sh!t Theatre website
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