Writer: Maeve Larkin
Director: Rachel Gee
Meet Bunnington, a dwindling Women’s Institute at risk of closure, barely able to afford its guest speakers or a new tin of biscuits. Enter Alice McKenna as the Catherine Tate-like PR guru, unafraid of stepping on anyone’s toes and determined to turn things around. Personalities clash and miniature tribes form as new and old members fight over the best way to keep the group going while staying true to tradition.
First touring in 2015, Raising Agents has been revived to mark 125 years since the WI was first formed in Canada. Genius original music from O’Hooley and Tidow, composers of the theme tune of BBC’s Gentleman Jack, has been given renewed life with new arrangements from Rebekah Hughes.
Each act comes in at just 45 minutes, but packs in a hefty amount of information, shedding light on the history of this iconic, yet often misunderstood organisation. Those who enter with the misconception that the WI is nothing more than a glorified baking club will very quickly be put in their place.
The play’s low budget is obvious, from the plastic crate of costumes tucked behind the Wendy-house-style set to the entertaining mid-song guitar string mishap that paused the show, but this doesn’t distract from the message – if anything, it matches the ‘make do and mend’ attitude of the WI itself.
The four actors switch between an assortment of characters to take us on a journey through the past 125 years, from Adelaide Hoodless, the Canadian founder of the WI, to prim and proper wartime ladies, anti-nuclear protestors and the Brummie members who heckled Tony Blair. This complicated web of scenes would have been difficult to weave were the cast not so multi-talented, playing various instruments, perfecting multiple accents and switching genders.
James McLean is utterly convincing as Moira, the prudish and pearl-clutching older member, while Thomas Cotran steals the show and seems to be having the time of his life playing leopard print-clad, sassy Angie. It’s difficult to believe that this is Hannah Bainbridge’s professional debut – she fits in perfectly as the clipped, stuffy Bunnington member whose lecture on the recipe for rabbit pie keeps being interrupted. Alice McKenna’s voice and performance are equally powerful and charming.
At the heart of the play are friendship, wit, and contradiction. “Grave and Gay” is the official WI slogan and these two ideals are as much as war throughout the show as the characters themselves. The women twerk to Beyoncé one moment, and sing a sombre ballad about women’s need to ‘earn their place’ the next.
One leaves the show entertained and enlightened, realising that the WI has achieved so much more throughout its history than scones, tea and sponges; as Hannah Bainbridge’s character proudly proclaims; “we were always more than just jam.”
Tours until 22nd October 2022
