Whilst dystopian drama has always had a certain fascination for theatre goers, Futurism and Science Fiction are subjects which have not been so well received in theatre until recently. It is becoming increasingly more relevant, with technology moving so fast and the massive shifts in our lives as a result of climate change and coronavirus (for example). Who would have thought we would be here? Anything could happen, couldn’t it?

THE VIOLENCE SERIES (The Other Room commissioned by theatre503 January 2020) is a series of plays set in the future exploring the themes that divide us and asks profound questions about the darker side of humanity. When does an act become violent? Should we really fight fire with fire? And how far would you go to avoid it? THE STORY was Inspired by writer Tess Berry-Hart’s work with refugees from Assad’s jails and Libyan prisons. It is a psychological thriller set in a Kafkaesque world that interrogates the language of ‘othering’ and the stories we tell ourselves to justify violence. Is mental torture worse than physical? HELA, by winner of The Other Room’s Violet Burns Playwright Award, Mari Izzard, leaves no rock unturned in this dark and unsettling tale about dirty family secrets and vigilant justice.

AI LOVE YOU by Melanie Ann Ball (Heart to Heart Productions at Theatre N16 June 2017) is an innovative show that raises important questions. Many plays, films and television shows have mused on the future implications of using artificial intelligence to create human robots: it’s the point at which human and machine collide and learn to live alongside each other. TV’s Humans considered the moral and ethical questions involved in living with robots and Westworld manipulates the humans in an AI world, but this interactive show puts the audience in the driving seat.

J'OUVERT by Yasmin Joseph (Theatre503 June 2019) presents big ideas about London’s inequalities, shown through the lens of Notting Hill Carnival. Sexual harassment, race struggles and somewhere within the play the terrible truth of Grenfell Towers are all present and wrapped up in a party atmosphere allowing serious themes to be aired. 

CLASSIFIED by Jayne Woodhouse (Lion and Unicorn Theatre October 2019) presents three interlinking plays that comment on class with some set in an imagined future. The three pieces examine the inequality in our current society and what these might lead to if left unchecked.

STRIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN by Jennifer Banks (Drayton Arms May 2018 and on tour) is filled with amusing and recognizable characters, buoyant humour and heartfelt moments. A comedy chock full of lively and engaging characters, including competitive phone receptionists trying to out-nice each other, sapphic speed dating where an unlikely couple meet, supermarket pals who work at Cheap ‘n’ Cheerful - one who is sex-obsessed and likes to over-share. The characters’ stories cross-over when their town is under threat from a corrupt district council. As public services are cut and hard-working people are made redundant, can they pull together to save their town? Strife in A Northern Town is the story of a nameless working-class city – and the plight of its inhabitants at the hands of a corrupt local council.

EXODUS by Rachael Boulton (Finborough Theatre November 2018) is brimming with indomitable Welsh spirit. The industrial heartlands of Wales have slowly had the heart torn out of them, first with the destruction of the mining industry and then with the death by a thousand cuts of a decade of austerity. As the last factory in town is set to be demolished, four unlikely friends gather to mourn its passing and to chew the fat. They’ve all had a pretty tough time recently but pray for a better future.

Sarah Kosar’s MUMBURGER (Old Red Lion Theatre June/July 2017) is highly original take on grief, the body and its sustenance. Father and daughter Hugh and Tiffany must deal with the sudden death of their wife/mother Andrea. The meat which mysteriously appears after her death turns out to be literally a mumburger. The mother would like them to eat her meat as a spiritual token, but the pair are vegan. This absurdist play with its surreal premise creates a thoughtful and moving meditation on grief whilst Kosar’s keen sense of the absurd also results in some hilarious one-liners.

The first four in this section were part of the London Horror Festival at Old Red Lion Theatre. Female writers have had considerable success with their horrible stories sometimes even gaining a cult following. 

THE DARKLINGS by Nic Lamont (Presented by House of Macabre at Old Red Lion October 2018) is a fearless, confrontational and darkly funny show. Abi is an agoraphobe with a predilection for death who aspires to be a comedienne. She lives with Lloyd, her turban-wearing, gin-swigging, heel stomping best friend, and his mother, who sits in the corner and is occasionally provoked into the odd discouraging utterance. Much to their glee the Wandsworth Ripper, a notorious child killer, is on the prowl and terrorising London. And there’s something evil in the basement, either a demon or the cat … 

B.A.D.D. (Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons) by Carrie Marx (Old Red Lion Theatre Oct 2017) thrills with this satire on the multitude of Satanic threats hidden in seemingly innocuous everyday objects and media. Back in the 1980s, America enjoyed the rise of Metal Culture with bands like Black Sabbath, and Venom, as well as the Hardcore-Punk movement coupled with an exponential increase in the number of people playing role playing games. The most famous and controversial of these being Dungeons & Dragons. As with any movement, there was a backlash in the opposite direction. Many Religious groups felt that the game was encouraging the practice of Satanism and was driving young people into the arms of the devil. This bizarre backlash is the inspiration for the show B.A.D.D., an anti-occult organisation that genuinely existed. It is clever, blackly humorous with an emotional punch at the end.

BURY THE HATCHET by Sasha Wilson (Presented by Out of The Forest Theatre at The King’s Head Theatre July 2017 and The Hope July 2018) presents a unique and absorbing look at the notorious historical figure Lizzie Borden. Most people know the nursery rhythm of Lizzie Borden giving her mother “40 whacks” with an axe and then turning the weapon on her father but this production sheds light on the events surrounding the murders, presenting alternative versions of how the killings took place.

TURKEY by Frankie Meredith (The Hope Theatre September/October 2017) is a brave title for a debut play, but it becomes apparent within the opening minutes that this show is anything but a Turkey. Madeline will have a baby, and she’ll do anything to get it, just one problem she’s in a same sex relationship. ‘Turkey’ is a short, punchy and heartfelt examination of one couple’s desire for a child, the complexity of sexuality, the ethics of motherhood, and ultimately life and death.

This genre deserves a little box all on its own as it’s a peculiarly British thing and is perhaps our answer to schadenfreude. Let’s have a good old laugh at the worst extremes of our psyche.  

Anna Thomas-Jones’ highly original DOG PLAY DEAD (produced by Well Behaved Women Bread & Roses Theatre January 2016) is a gripping black comedy about a dog sitter for a wealthy 'family business’. Alone in a mansion the protagonist invites her three best friends for a wine-infused evening of drunkenness and scrabble. What you do not invite however, is the family’s mentally disturbed daughter intent on burning the neighbours. And the family business? The Mafia. And their priceless dalmatian is missing.

THE CAT’S MOTHER by Erica Murray (King’s Head Theatre July 2018 Part of Playmill festival) is a twisted and acutely observed Irish comedy about two sisters struggling to decide the fate of their mother, who has early onset of dementia. Ciara has just bought a flat in Clapham and is showing it off to her sister Sinead. Sinead is the one who is looking after mam back home in Ireland. She’s not very impressed with the size of Ciara’s flat but then again, that might be because she brought mam with her. Oh, and then there’s also the cat. It’s a situation which drives the two sisters to extreme measures in this sly moral teaser about taking responsibility. 

THE BUZZ by Lydia Rynne (Bread & Roses Theatre May 2018) is a dark comedy exploring the seduction of fame, overnight celebrity culture and the injustices we disregard in favour of our own success. It takes the audience in some unexpected directions and each part of the journey is compelling, giving vent to the anger around the #Me Too Movement.

COMEDY

Just good ol’ fashioned, let’s av a laf comedy sometimes still has a little dark humour.  

THE SOCIAL NOTWORK by Sharon Tracey Wright, (presented by Narky Knickers Theatre productions  at Lion and Unicorn April 2016) is good old-fashioned fun at its best. Three feisty Yorkshire women have been made redundant and they’ve lost one of their mates in a freak accident involving a runaway Staffie and a pair of Hello Kitty deely-boppers. Far from being downhearted the three women hatch a plan to become social media megastars over plates of mushroom vol au vents at the wake. These feisty friends fight to survive redundancy in a very funny and truly topical tale for our times

VICKI AND PAT IN FUERTEVENTURA by Ellen Chivers (Hen & Chicken Theatre June 2018 and on tour) is humour with a hint of sadness. On a sun-lounger, earphones firmly planted in ears, mindfulness app in full force, we meet Vicky. The Yorkshire lass on holiday in Fuerteventura with her husband, who has escaped the all-inclusive resort for a few days to go scuba diving. Enter Pat Acock. Her entrance is memorable for Vicky as Pat walks in and throws a whole gateau all over her and the sun-lounger. Not a great start when all Vicky wants to do is read Kimberley Walsh’s autobiography. As they spend more time with each other it becomes clear that Pat remembers Vicky from school, a bitter-sweet reunion now the girls are all grown up. 

THE WHITE FEMINISTS GUIDE TO SEX AND HIP HOP by Roxane Bourges (Theatre N16 October 2017) has an intriguing title, but it does exactly what it says on the tin and delivers a one-woman comedy show (in verse) that covers hip hop, sex, feminism, sexuality, and cultural appropriation, all from the perspective of a privileged white girl.

THRILLER

THE STATE VS JOHN HAYES by Lucy Roslyn (Presented by Epsilon Productions at King’s Head Theatre July 2015) is a psychological thriller spliced with much dark humour. The play is in real time and gives us one hour with killer, Elyese Dukie in Huntsville prison, Texas; a woman on death row, telling us her last thoughts. We, the audience are drawn in, sucked into her world; made confidante and witness both at the same time. Tomorrow she goes to court for the last time. But tonight, Elyese reveals the one thing she won’t tell the court, or the string of psychiatrists sent to diagnose her that she is not alone in her cell. This woman’s oftentimes insistence on referring to herself as John Hayes and her embodiment of this male persona, is completely convincing in its gender fluidity. Psychopath or seductress? Murderer or manipulator? Psychiatric hospital or the electric chair? What does she deserve?

We all know that the NHS is precious and threatened, and this show highlights that in a period when we had not yet heard of Coronavirus. BLOOD ORANGE by Tania Amsel (Old Red Lion Theatre 10 December 2019 – 4 January 2020) is a powerful show, punching well above its weight. Tania Amsel is writer and actor of this one-woman show, weaving stories of a junior doctor’s life and times and family and fun. We all know, that junior doctors work far too long for far too little and save lives. We all know that the NHS is precious and threatened. This show makes that knowledge sing, and it makes it real, which is what outstanding theatre can do.

NOT QUITE by Cassie Symes and Georgina Thomas (Hen and Chickens 25 February 2019) is a smart and knowing comedy, perfectly capturing the anxieties of trying to find work in today’s economy. We all know the feeling. The depressing job searches, the endless applications, the waiting for a call, and then the interview itself. The horror, the horror. It’s a miserable experience, looking for work and jumping through hoops only to be told you are ‘not quite what we are looking for’.

The plays featured in Parts 1 & 2 of this series, show a huge range of experiences. Some plays may be raw and others truly harrowing but all reveal an authenticity, an honesty in which women are speaking up for themselves instead of having their experiences filtered through the lens of male writers. They give good reason to hope that we can have a fairer conversation about women’s place in the world.  

Outside of women's experiences there are some omissions which are quite surprising. Few new writing plays reviewed over the five year period focus on climate change or the environment and not just in women’s writing. However, many of the other topical themes raised here have fed into television and film, where they are getting a lot of attention. Women’s sexuality in particular has been very popular (Killing Eve and Chewing Gum)  but so too have issues of women’s rights including agency over their own bodies (The Handmaid's Tale, Call the Midwife). There has also been an interest in areas of women’s health, as well as perennial ideas surrounding relationships, coming of age, and mental health.  

Whilst most of the writers featured are at the beginning of their writing careers, there are also many female writers who have already achieved considerable success. Every new writer must find their own unique voice and great writers have an even higher status to reach. With clever use of language and superior insight they can give us those moments of revelation and persuade us of their arguments.    

The next WOMEN IN THEATRE article takes a look at voice and the power of words revealing some of the most important female writers whose work we have been fortunate to see in pub theatres.  

Tomorrow’s Playwrights Today: Voice and the power of words