Writer and Director: Constanza Hola Chamy
Mad Women entrances you from the moment you enter the black box theatre, from the sounds of the acoustic guitar to the soft grating of the character Frida Kahlo sketching in her notebook. A simplistic set allows the actors to claim the stage and reclaim the title ‘Mad Woman’. In this retelling of the biographies of three Latin American artists, we gain a deeper insight into the minds of these women, who faced significant challenges in their lives, both physically and mentally.
The examination of their lives through both love and turmoil is beautifully illustrated through the actors’ physicality, which transitions between dancing and animating their life events. A scene that particularly impacts is Frida’s bus accident, in which she manically laughs, stating how hilarious a tragedy is, perhaps as a way of coping but also blurring the lines between the contrasting emotions.
The unnatural flow between these positive and negative emotions is a prevalent feature of Bipolar Disorder, with which each of the women has posthumously been diagnosed. When Judith Marquez states she feels ‘transparent’, the audience can so clearly feel her hopelessness, even when using so few words. It is although she fears we will look straight through her as well.
The isolation that mental illness brings is depicted, despite the interwoven nature of the stories, through the fact that these women are confined to their own stories. They do not interact but face their turmoil alone. The loneliness of not being understood, or simply those surrounding them not wishing to understand, creates the confined world in which they all live, where they cannot express themselves for fear of judgment or even prosecution.
The analysis of motherhood is an alternative representation than is usually presented to us, as Violeta Parra remarks on her hatred for motherhood, and her lack of love for her children. This is refreshing to see as so often the experience of motherhood is limited and refined to only a singular view of unconditional love, which simply isn’t realistic. The characters are consistently not afraid to be real, even if the truth is brutal. They aim to unsettle the audience.
While the script is excellently written, it sometimes diverges into blatant statements that may belittle the audience or distract from the themes of the show, such as the acknowledgement of the artists’ fame in the present day. The piece could be more nuanced without these digressions.
The play also uniquely is staged with both a professional and community cast, which creates an inclusion that is often missing within the theatre. This allows a lot of creative freedom for where this play may go next. It has the potential for great commercial success in the future.
Runs until 28 March 2024
