There are some Fringe shows that appeal to all ages. It doesn’t matter if they’re performed by young or older people; their message comes across, their jokes land, and we all leave satisfied and happy.
Unfortunately, Los Angeles’ Theatre Initiative’s The C Word was, for me, not such a show. The younger people in the audience loved it. I found it less impressive.
Five young women are waiting to be interviewed for an Assistant Curator’s job at a gallery. Four of them already work there. The fifth is the daughter of major benefactors. In the room with them is one of Picasso’s cubist paintings of a woman. Why isn’t it in the gallery? It belongs to the director, and he keeps it there, so we are told, to impress wealthy donors – and women.
To their horror, the women realise the director is currently interviewing an outsider, when they had thought recruitment was limited to internal staff. What’s worse, that outsider is a man. They might as well give up and leave right now.
Each woman’s character is fairly well defined. We have Ollie, the mouthy bitchy one, Georgie, the peacemaker, Venus, the rich one, Mona, the allegedly ugly one (she’s not) and Pearl, the pretty one. The show pivots on their inability to support one another; faced with desperate competition to secure a job in the arts, they’re soon at each other’s throats, sometimes literally.
The lights go out, thunder rolls and the women immediately panic. Every single emotion in The C Word is signalled by screaming and shouting. I think this is supposed to be funny, but I felt it undermined any suggestion that these were strong independent women. They were instead just silly.
Bursting into the room, straight through the Picasso, comes an exotic supernatural presence. It’s the woman in the painting.
‘the historical, hysterical oracle’
Once the women have finally stopped screaming, she informs them of a huge threat within the director’s office. The C word. The oracle has locked all of the doors; no one will be allowed out until they choose one of their number to go forward for interview, to ‘face the monster behind the door.’
Predictably, Ollie starts shouting out her interpretation of that C word. Why she has to shout so loudly and for so long I’m not entirely sure. Ollie and Venus end up in a fist fight, with Georgie intervening.
‘We are better than this.’
But for what feels like a very long time, they are not. They argue, they judge, they complain. They resent Pearl for being pretty, Mona resents everyone because (so she believes) she’s not pretty. Ollie hates them all, just because, and makes it clear what she had to do to get this interview.
At one point they all start laughing hysterically about the (now temporarily departed) oracle. They find themselves so funny they roll about on the floor screaming. Again.
Next we have the return of the oracle, except they’re now dressed as some sort of priest who proceeds to administer Holy Communion to the women, all of whom except Pearl are on their knees praying to be blessed with Pearl’s assets. I found this scene gratuitous (and no, I am not obsessively religious.)
The group then decides to put Pearl forward for the job – why? Because the pretty girl always wins. Georgie, who’s been at the gallery the longest, allows that Pearl did say a few worthwhile things at her previous interview,
‘but that was just a plus’
Cue Mona’s turn for a mega-rant (more shouting.) She’s ugly and this has ruined her life, her mother didn’t love her enough, etc. To be fair, Ollie does correct her on that one; it’s all in Mona’s head, she’s too brittle to keep friends. It would have been interesting to explore more of Mona’s backstory, to find out what has really caused her trauma, but instead we’re off on the next rant. It’s relentless.
I’m not in any way doubting, here, that looks do open doors, or if not that, that they give beautiful people the confidence to open them themselves. What The C Word lacks is any subtlety in putting these points across. It’s as though we’re being repeatedly hit over the head with a sledgehammer while the racket is simultaneously bursting our eardrums.
There’s an amusing interlude when Georgie, in a final effort to foster peace and cooperation, makes a ‘talking stick’ out of a tampon and tells them only “I feel” statements will be allowed. Much more could have been made of this scene, but needless to say, Georgie’s idea doesn’t work for long, because now it’s Pearl’s turn for a shouting session.
Picasso painting’s next move is designed, I think, to show us how women are sidelined and pigeonholed in art, both as subjects and as curators, and it is quite clever. Then. after yet another screaming session, there’s a transformation. For reasons not immediately apparent, the women decide to love one another – another floor scene with lots of hugs. But surprise! Even when they agree that Georgie should be the one to go forward, they can’t agree quietly.
Chad (surprise!), the man being interviewed, finally appears, and we learn what that C word really is. It’s a bit of a let down to say the least. The actor playing Chad is, however, very good. I enjoyed his patronising attempts to manipulate the situation to his own ends. While he was still a bit of a caricature, his behaviour stayed (sadly) within the bounds of reality, and was instantly recognisable to any woman. And it’s not just Chad’s super smooth words. His posture says it all, especially when he assumes “the Dad spread” – sitting backwards on a chair with his legs splayed. This was, for me, by far the funniest part of the show.
And then we are back in the realm of physical battle. And yes I know it’s supposed to be symbolic, but there was just too much of it to make an impact. Nevertheless, as I said at the beginning, the younger audience members were wildly enthusiastic. I myself left feeling a little depressed at the fact that, after all these years of feminist struggle, and despite the show’s optimistic ending, women are often still all too quick to blame each other rather than address society’s underlying and powerful patriarchal values.
But I’m sure Chad would tell me I’m just taking it all a little bit too seriously.
The C Word was at Venue 16, Greenside @ Riddles’ Court; its run has now finished.
I would just like to add one final point, and one that is absolutely no criticism of the show. Earlier this week I was at another show in an adjacent room. It was a quiet show, and all the audience could hear was the shouting and screaming from this one.
I felt sorry for the performer, who handled the situation very well, but was having to work in what I think were unfair conditions. I mentioned this to the Greenside door staff, who were very sympathetic, but venue managers do need to investigate in advance the sound levels likely to come from shows staged so close together. It’s a problem at several other venues too, though this was a particularly extreme example.
