Bombshells
14/09/08 20:09
Theatre Company: Court Theatre
Writer: Joanna Murray Smith
Director: Ross Gumbley
Actors: Ali Harper
Location: Musgrove Theatre
Bombshells is a one-woman play which humorously exposes six women balancing the demands of their inner and outer lives with funny and touching portrayals of the modern female. We see an overwhelmed mother, an older woman finding comfort with “succulents”, a very confident teenager in a catsuit, a young bride, a widow who reads for the blind and an aging singer who is making a comeback.
Joanna Murray Smith says “It seemed to me that in the post-feminist era, women have forsaken one kind of madness for other kinds. Where once women went mad suppressing their ambitions or dreams, they now drive themselves mad trying to fulfil them all simultaneously, dissecting themselves under the microscope of self-analysis, disappearing inside the impossible pressures of the will to be good, to be great and to be true to every individual instinct.”
Amazing! Ali Harper was nothing short of incredible. She managed to convincingly transform herself into six completely different characters. Her energy and commitment was awe-inspiring. The play itself was brilliantly written ... cleverly balancing poignant moments with humour. I found it to be what Joanna Murray Smith described as a “delight in the passionate, miserable, hilarious wildness of women”.
Writer: Joanna Murray Smith
Director: Ross Gumbley
Actors: Ali Harper
Location: Musgrove Theatre
Synopsis:
Bombshells is a one-woman play which humorously exposes six women balancing the demands of their inner and outer lives with funny and touching portrayals of the modern female. We see an overwhelmed mother, an older woman finding comfort with “succulents”, a very confident teenager in a catsuit, a young bride, a widow who reads for the blind and an aging singer who is making a comeback.
Joanna Murray Smith says “It seemed to me that in the post-feminist era, women have forsaken one kind of madness for other kinds. Where once women went mad suppressing their ambitions or dreams, they now drive themselves mad trying to fulfil them all simultaneously, dissecting themselves under the microscope of self-analysis, disappearing inside the impossible pressures of the will to be good, to be great and to be true to every individual instinct.”
Thoughts on this Production:
Amazing! Ali Harper was nothing short of incredible. She managed to convincingly transform herself into six completely different characters. Her energy and commitment was awe-inspiring. The play itself was brilliantly written ... cleverly balancing poignant moments with humour. I found it to be what Joanna Murray Smith described as a “delight in the passionate, miserable, hilarious wildness of women”.