Writer/Director: Saskia Wesnigk-Wood
Reviewer: Lela Tredwell
With pinned butterflies, startling monkeys and an abundance of dust, this historically-inspired fictional one-woman show imagines a reality whereby the naturalist Charles Darwin grew up alongside his future maid servant. Mixing verse, monologue, one-sided conversations and an intriguing voice-over, the experiences of ‘Hen’ (Olivia Post), born into a life of service, are set beside one of the most famous men in British History. With the intention of provoking discussions about women’s rights, Darwin’s Cleaner explores purpose, parenthood, and class.
Born on the same day, the Lord’s day 12th February 1809, Henrietta Telford (Olivia Post) and the significantly more economically privileged Charles Darwin, are both nursed by Hen’s mother. As they grow, their lives divide, but they circle back into one another’s company, largely out of necessity, when Henrietta loses her husband on the same day Charles Darwin returns from his life-changing five year expedition to South America. While he’s been abroad, Hen has loved wildly and suffered through multiple miscarriages. Grieving and broken-hearted, Hen accepts a job, and a dress she hates, from the Darwin family.
The narrative of this play evokes Girl with a Pearl Earring (an historical fiction novel by Tracy Chevalier and the motion picture it inspired), but it struggles to hold the same level of tension or drama. The emotional beats of the piece feel misplaced and their delivery is at times perplexing, leaving the audience to wonder what just happened. Did the widely revered writer of On the Origin of the Species just grope his maid? Did that really happen? No, it didn’t. Or it might have done, but so might a lot of other things, like humans being descended from lobsters.
Although it is encouraging to see theatre that reclaims lost female voices, the historical footing of the play places itself on unstable ground considering this Henrietta Telford/Brown never actually existed, whereas other people the play depicts really did. Syms Covington, the resourceful, hearing-impaired, manservant who, in real life, did assist Charles Darwin with his scientific studies, and whom Charles described as “highly trustworthy”, receives a damning treatment. The work depicts Syms’ deafness being caused by Hen (Olivia Post) defending herself during a sexual assault, whereas historians have the origin of his impairment being many years earlier, and, unsurprisingly, unlikely to have been caused by an imaginary woman.
If we can put the missing link between fact and fiction aside, the voiceover (Brian Gulland) of Darwin cataloguing the humans around him as specimens is an engaging part of the show and has potential. With further evolution we might see it affecting Henrietta’s choices and pushing forward her narrative. The character of Hen has some intriguing tales to tell, including the tracing of fantasy voyages on a globe, opening carefully packed specimen cases, and her meeting a monkey for the first time. Seeing her become even more involved in her employer’s studies could help to create a more concise and also engaging performance.
The origins of the play lie in entertainer Olivia Post’s comedy routine about Darwin’s cleaner being scared of monkeys. To build a one-woman show for Post, writer and director Saskia Wesnigk-Wood created the play around this idea. Like Charles and Hen, it’s possible this creative collaboration hasn’t yet found its true form. We hope this production will evolve to meet its ambitions. As it stands, we are left searching for the missing link.
Review on 25th May
