Fire, Spice and tongue-in-cheek humour in Nasty Womxn
- Lance-Selae August
- Jan 18, 2018
- 3 min read
The Furies Co-op presents Nasty Womxn, a production which intersects reality television, greek mythology and all things feminist, at the Alexander Bar, Theatre and Café. The production is written and directed by Dara Beth a UCT drama graduate, and singer with a kind smile, a heart of gold and remarkable creative vision. Nasty Womxn involved mixing the stories of Persephone, Medusa and other smaller Greek mythological characters, and spinning a fresh, modern and contemporary take on these timeless characters. The result is a collection of sketches about contemporary womxn who merely try to live their daily lives without any drama.
The production features talented actresses, Kathleen Stephens, Maria Vos and Masali Baduza. who balance each other well. Each adds a unique flair to the overall stage presence. The set utilizes an eclectic and very regal design, incorporating gold paint, very modern props and feisty tongue-in-cheek audiovisual cues. All of these makes for a theatre production that is visually and intellectually stimulating.
We had a brief discussion with Beth about her artistic process.
The subject matter for Nasty Womxn – how deep is your investment in it, and what does the production’s themes mean to you as a theatre maker?
I am very deeply invested in the subject matter. As someone who identifies as somewhere between a women and non-binary, this is something I’ve been toying with for years. I felt like now was the time for me to speak about it. I’m really invested in having conversations about gender identity, themes pertaining to unhealthy family relationships, and the dynamics between sisters, wives, lovers and friends. Throughout my life, I’ve also read a lot of Greek mythology, and through researching it, I found dark themes and life lessons that people aren’t really ready to speak about. Nasty Womxn wants to speak to these dark corners of Greek mythology, as well as the humanity in it, as many of these stories have strong relevance to the stories of today.
What were some of the challenges you faced during the production process?
When reading the script without seeing it being staged, one would easily think “hmmm, very interesting script, very scholastic, but how would this be staged?” In this regards, finding a way to make the dialogue accessible to people, and making it interesting enough to sustain the audience’s attention while speaking about very academic topics, proved to be a bit of a challenge, but we’ve proven success in this. The influence of reality television and the media empowers people, and another difficulty was trying to make the story’s characters accessible through this.
What was your vision for the production, and what are you hoping audiences would take away from it?
I’d be happy if as much as one audience member walked away with the ability to have a discussion or hold a positionality on issues related to gender, however, this is a broad spectrum, and I cannot really “expect” audience members to take away anything. My vision for the production is to tell more stories, and add additional, fresh voices.
Nasty Womxn runs at the Alexander Upstairs until 20 January at 9pm nightly. Tickets can be booked through the Alexander Bar website, at R90 online, or R110 at the door.
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