The Screen Test – Pleasance Theatre, London

Writer: Bebe Cave

The 1930s and 1940s are often thought of as Hollywood’s Golden Age. But that was founded upon a studio system that handed all the power to its male producers and kept its contracted stars, especially the women, on the shortest of leashes.

It is that world that writer/performer Bebe Cave seeks to bring to life in The Screen Test. Her character, Betsy Bitterly, has left behind her religious fundamentalist family in England to make it big in Hollywood – only to find herself in a rotating series of screen tests as she vies for the elusive role that will prove to be her breakout performance.

In between auditions, Betsy regales us with her experiences, from being looked down upon in her non-speaking role of Peasant Whore Number Three by another actress (playing Peasant Whore Number Two, with the precious two lines that come with it) to being touched up by the studio’s costume manager and just having to accept it.

Everywhere, there are references to the ingrained misogyny and sexism within the industry and how women would often have to agree to all sorts of things from “handsy” producers just to have the chance of career progression.

If this all sounds terribly heavy, it’s anything but. Cave is adept at keeping things light, bringing a deft touch of humour to both Betsy’s story and the frequent moments where she breaks character to engage with the audience, comment on the show, and more. It also helps that her vision of Hollywood is skewed towards the ridiculous – one rival for a role is flattened, Looney Tunes-style, by an anvil. Meanwhile, Betsy’s great change at a leading lady role is scuppered at the age of 25 when her 87-year-old leading man drops dead, and the film is junked.

As a solo exercise in character comedy, it’s all good fun. The tales of misogyny and the ways in which women are trained to put each other down as a not-so-subtle means of perpetuating the patriarchy are lightly, if at times a little too glibly, handled. But there is a real 21st-century heart in there, too. As Betsy was nearly a century ago, any actor of today is merely “a person waiting to be asked to pretend to be a person.” Success is still always just one decent screen test away – and if it doesn’t come, tragedy may await. Real life may not be quite as silly as Betsy Bitterly’s, but within The Screen Test’s hour of madcap foolery, there are nuggets of truth to be found.

Continues until 19 October 2024