Considerations

"Perfect"
Presented by Theatre With Milk, Please
Dilston Grove Gallery, Southwark Park, London
July 14-16, 2010

A 30-minute exploration of post-feminist theory through the medium of interpretive badminton. While preparing for the game two women contrast themselves and each other against society's unrealistic and often contradictory ideals of feminine perfection.

"Perfect" is a light touch theatrical interpretation of Naomi Wolf's 1989 authoritative text "The Beauty Myth." It gently prods the Big Issues that have surrounded women and girls since antiquity: weight, attractiveness, strength and submission, ownership of sexuality, and the power of religion and men to pit us against one another in our desperate plea to be the best woman, and thereby win.

While it may raise a few eyebrows it does not raise any new questions or attempt to answer extant ones which now plague women more than ever. It simply and artfully demonstrates that the concerns are still current and felt throughout womankind.

The themes expressed are not lost on the audience, and the piece is executed with artistry and precision. But the ending leaves me wondering why. While I do not expect or particularly want theatre to teach, I do want it to offer me something in return for having watched it. I have no patience for that which seeks merely to "Raise awareness." I am aware. I am a woman, and the men in the audience know women too. To suggest that the content of the piece accomplishes or reveals anything new would be to ignore all feminist art and performance of the past century. It left me expecting resolution, suggestion, hope..or even despair. I would have settled for hopelessness if it was your sentiment. But it ended with mere status quo. A return to the outside world.

I'm hesitant to encourage theatre makers to have a clear and distinct idea they want to communicate to audiences when they create a piece. Audiences these days are rarely impressed with the ideas you have to offer, and would rather have the ability to digest that which they see seasoned with their own experiences and inclinations. This is intriguing in a way, but also a useless pain in the ass. The conversation with the audience has begun to follow thus: "This is my idea." say you. "That's a nice idea." says the audience. "do you agree with my idea?" ask you. "Not at all, but it reminded me of something, which I suppose has merit." says the audience. "Oh." say you. "I suppose I'll respect your assessment, or lack thereof. At least I expressed myself." "And at least I got something out of it, even if my interpretation had nothing to do with your intention." smiles the audience, sipping the wine that you really couldn't afford to offer to everyone but did anyway because you felt obligated to (and secretly hoped it would soften any reviewers' comments regarding your piece.)

All that said, you do need to have a point. Otherwise it is just art--meaningless, useless art. Like a still life or :cringe: Cubism. An exercise in intellectual masturbation. A stylized reflection of normal life--just as confusing and devoid of direction, but with better choreography.

Sometimes I really hate theatre. Sometimes I'm in awe of it. I never really feel qualified to do it. Even if I have an idea, a point, a valuable lesson to teach or at the very least cathartic experience to offer--surely everyone else has already done it, and better. I'm a trite old has-been from the moment I set out. And to a great extent I'm not willing to put my personal reputation on the line to learn if my work is worth seeing, or may be someday. I'm a big chicken who doesn't want to establish the point from which I'll progress.

It is with this area of my personality, then, that I can applaud work created by my classmates. Even if it's not great, even if it drags the envelope back a few stages, at least they have the balls to put it out there and get it watched, field critique, and develop from there. So while no, I did not enjoy Perfect, and found that it represented the symptoms of a social concern but did not address the causes, I applaud the fact that they made it and put it out there, a standalone show, a real piece, a real event. It takes guts.