In September of 2019 myself, Jasmine Towse, and Grace Crilly began creating our theatre company called the The Leading Ladies as part of my Contemporary Performance Practice module. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 our final performance is postponed, and we intend to continue production soon.
The Leading Ladies Show is a satirical, sketch-style show that focuses on themes of the working class in the theatre industry, the ridiculousness of expectations placed onto performers, and the sexualization of women in a professional environment. This feminist comedy juxtaposed moments of parody with thought-provoking, distressing scenes. I believe our performance is important, due to the subject a lot of people aren’t aware of is going on behind the glitz and glamour of theatre. We want to challenge why there are low expectations placed on working-class women in life, but also fewer opportunities for them in theatre despite their talent and abilities.
We wanted to tell stories of real events, happening to real people, so we felt that using verbatim theatre to give a voice to those who do not have a platform which is exactly what we intend to do. From the beginning of our creative process, as a company we agreed we wanted our piece to be truthful and relevant. We gathered information by asking fellow performers their experiences in a professional theatre setting such as auditions and rehearsals. As a theatre company we feel this allows us to properly make awareness of the issues raised by not making assumptions based on our own experience but gathering more valuable information from outside sources. This was a challenge, as when it came to writing the script we wanted to have justice and confidentiality for those who shared their experiences with us, while mocking those who oppressed them. We took inspiration from Saturday Night Live, the political, social, and ethical parody sketch show to analyze how they addressed extremely controversial subjects about modern-day events in a non-offensive manner, creating comedy and music tastefully and informatively. Another creative inspiration is John Godber’s Hull Truck Theatre Company, as they focus on comedy for a specific audience who wouldn’t usually attend the theatre, making accessible and relatable content to invite a new-wave of spectators, which was our intention when creating The Leading Ladies Show. We intend to make theatre from the working class, for the working class which develops in our plans with this production is to tour around the UK.
Due to the theme of our show surrounding the theatre, we felt it was fitting to perform satire through song, parodying the exaggeration of musical theatre. This was incredibly enjoyable as I learned the skill of exploring comedy interjected into a more serious storyline. collaboratively, we wrote lyrics to pre-existing songs to turn them in an unexpected and hilarious direction, creating an element of surprise for audiences, focusing the close attention to comedic timing to add more dimension to the characters and the story. We took massive inspiration from many musicals, but in particular the broadway hit musical ‘Six’, telling historical events through music and comedy from the womens perspective. This element is something I will continue in both my writing and theatre-making, as I get to intertwine both my passion for music and comedy and allows me to creatively tell stories.
Due to the genre of our piece being predominantly a comedy, we found that sometimes we felt as though the lines between making fun of the ridiculousness of the issue or making fun of the issue itself was blurred. We paid extremely close attention to our creative choices through direction and the script to make sure we portrayed sensitively. This was a massive learning curve in theatre-making, as I learned that a story may be intense but the same amount of impact can be achieved through simplicity and carefulness. As a theatre company, we acknowledge that we cannot represent every kind of working-class woman. We have faced difficulty in this aspect of writing the script as we are keen for the themes we use to be true to us but also be inclusive of a range of women – It is important for us not to paint everyone with the same brush. Inclusivity in theatre is so incredibly important and I will always consider this in all of my future artwork. We took many inspriations from Bertolt Brecht’s epic theatre style, giving those oppressed a voice in a way to educate through non-traditional theatre stradgies. From this experience I have learned I have a passion in making responses to social issues, such as the #metoo movement, I acknowledge the power I have as a feminist, and also as a writer.
Writing and directing this piece collaboratively taught me a lot about female friendships, work ethic, and writing in unique satirical styles. As an independent female artist I wish to continue telling stories of other women authentically and powerfully.