Writer: Heather Alexander
Director: Dominique Gerrard
‘A woman must have money and a room of her own, if she is to write fiction.’
So starts Virginia Woolf’s 1928 lecture to Girton College investigating why women have been so absent in creating fiction.
What may, at first, seem like a throw-away and glib remark, ‘money and a room of her own’, have been impossibilities for women throughout history. Woolf shows how women’s position throughout history has directly influenced their absence in creating works of fiction.
She reminds us that wife-beating was not only tolerated but encouraged; that women married the man of their father’s choice and became their husband’s property; that women could not earn money and any money that came their way, they could not own. And much more besides.
Woolf turned her lectures into an extended essay, ‘A Room of One’s Own’, which Heather Alexander has engagingly dramatized in Room, running for 70 minutes. We are given a glimpse into the creative and investigative process writing involves; the highs and lows of creativity; the frustrations and anger of uncovering uncomfortable truths; and, above all, the joy of finding the exceptions to the rules.
Alexander, as Room’s writer, delivers a linguistic treat. The language is a joy to hear. And, whilst potentially at odds with how moral and financial poverty has impeded women, it is both amusing and snappily paced. As a performer, Alexander, is a delight to watch. Her assured performance is pitch perfect and her nuanced vocal delivery brings the rich language to life. Dominique Gerrard’s light direction gives the space for both the script and performance to shine.
Room is stark reminder of the woeful inequalities’ women have endured throughout history. But it’s testament to Alexander’s skills as writer and performer that Room is as entertaining and humorous as it is thought provoking.
Runs until 12 February and then continues to tour
