Book, Music & Lyrics: Andrée Bernard
Director: Michael Strassen
What (is) a Woman could be a bold and uncompromising musical that struts and sings about the meaning of womanhood outside of stereotypical depictions of a mother. Sadly though, almost all of the two-hour runtime focuses on a parade of disappointing men.
Given how awful the men in the play are, we might expect there to be even more criticism of their behaviours, especially their non-consensual acts, but instead, these are brushed off. And the male focus is even more of a shame as there is so much heart in the scenes where Andrée Bernard finally speaks to another woman. In these scenes, there’s real warmth, joy and pain in writer/performer Bernard’s depiction of her lifelong friend. And there are glimmers of this elsewhere when the show flirts with darker topics: Bernard fires with fierce desire despite the pain of lost pregnancies and fires with desire in monologues of courageous, if a little overwritten, erotic poetry. These, like the show as a whole, could benefit from some cuts.
A lot of the humour in What (is) a Woman relies on the relatable and observational hiccups of dating, and there is something really exciting about a musical about dating that is not solely about the younger generations. There are brief moments of feeling swept away in what the musical could be: there’s charm in the music from Musical Director and Arranger Daniel Looseley and bass player Jess Martin as well as some delightful lighting motifs from Zoé Ritchie. There is undeniably strong movement and strength of vocal technique from Bernard. Strassen and Bernard’s distinct characterisation work try to pull us towards what could be a delightful and unique musical comedy. Unfortunately, the attempts at relatable humour are never specific enough or pack enough punch to land.
Partly the problem is that the jokes about a dentist shoving comté too close to your mouth are not that relatable outside of the preserve of a small Hampstead elite. A lack of relatability might be one thing but then comes an ill-advised attempt to laugh at the expense of people who use they/them pronouns. It’s not clear whether this is another example of the men in Bernard’s life having awful opinions, or whether it’s the position of the show itself, which may benefit from being cleared up for a show that looks at an aspect of gender so head-on.
Towards its conclusion, we are invited to ask “What is a Woman?” Judging by what it spends its time talking about, this musical seems to think a woman is the terrible men she dates.
Runs until 4 May 2024
