REVIEW: MAD WOMEN at Etcetera Theatre19 – 28 March 2024

‘This mixture of fact and fiction is completely seamless, and the lives being depicted feel spontaneous and realistic’ ★★★ ½

This play about three Latin American female artists who lived with bipolar disorder has a multi-function. It is a professional show (as seen here), and there is also another one performed by community members from underserved and underrepresented groups of women. The play fights the stereotypes and stigmas of what has historically meant to “be a woman” with mental health challenges.

Based on research the play morphs into the imagined lives of Frida Kahlo, Violeta Parra and Judith Marquez and their mental journeys through to their deaths. This mixture of fact and fiction is completely seamless, and the lives being depicted feel spontaneous and realistic.   In no small part, this is thanks to the actors and the directors who have clearly worked together to ensure a safe space for the very sensitive issues being raised and dramatized. Each of the three women have their own distinct voices. 

Jimena Larraguivel is a feisty Frida Kahlo, Samantha Manzur is a defiant Violeta Parra and Mariana Aristizábal is an ultimately a defeated Judith Marquez. Given the age in which these female artists lived, they were pioneers, living with honesty and bravery.  In part, the play feels like a celebration of their fantastic achievements: Mexican Artist Frida Kahlo (1907 – 1954); Chilean folk musician and visual artist Violeta Parra (1917 – 1967) and Colombian painter Judith Marquez (1925 – 1994).   

The subject matter raised in the drama includes the kind of issues that women are still battling today: to gain recognition for their work, to be open about their sexuality (rather than be criticized for it) and not to be defined as mothers, but to have the same kind of freedom that their male counterparts enjoy. Clearly the production is feminist, the women are shown as oppressed, sometimes by misogynistic men and at other times they are weighed down by the spectre of death.  In the play these twin horrors are given human form, and this is where the play falters.  ‘The Man’ played by David Bower is a bespeckled everyman and seems quite harmless, creeping around in the background, making hand movement sometimes as though signing for the deaf, or passively viewing the women through a window.   This is no fault of the actor as presumably he is doing exactly what has been asked of him. Although the addition of this masculine figure has dramatic potential, his function doesn’t come across clearly enough.    Lighting could play a bigger part in the play and give some of the ominous aspects more of a boost. 

The sound is more successful and it plays an important part in the piece, with Violeta’s folk songs adding another enjoyable dimension to the show . The single musician on guitar, strums along nicely and the pre-recorded sounds are eerie enough to be disturbing.  

In all, it’s a play with much to admire and much to impart to its audience, with a very strong cast who really shine a light on the role of women in the arts.

MAD WOMEN at Etcetera Theatre19 – 28 March 2024

Box Office: https://www.citizenticket.com/events/etcetera-theatre/mad-women-the-life-and-death-of-three-women-artists-living-with-bipolar/

Writer and Director: Constanza Hola Chamy

Cast: Jimena Larraguivel (Frida), Samantha Manzur(Violeta), Mariana Aristizábal (Judith), David Bower (The Man)

Musician and Composer: Iván Mancilla

 Assistant Director: Valentina López

 Movement Director: Lydia Newman

 Music Director: Alex Etchart

 Costume Designer: Gabriel Vielma

 Producers: Nikita De Martin and Sam Bettridge

 Content Creator: Mairéad Ruane

Reviewer: Heather Jeffery, Editor of London Pub Theatres Magazine