*Soho theatre, London*
Hattie Naylor's bold attempt to explore women's complicity in sexual violence through a male abuser's voice is both insightful and uncomfortable
In traditional versions of Perrault's 19th-century tale, the young bride who defies her husband and looks behind the forbidden door is saved in the nick of time by her brothers. In Angela Carter's magnificent retelling, it is the girl's mother who rides to her rescue. But where is the young woman who can save herself from the sexually violent and murderous impulses of the world's Bluebeards?
Hattie Naylor's bold and thoughtful take suggests that we will not find her as long as women remain in thrall to the thrill of the demon lover. Her 21st-century version preaches not the dangers of curiosity or disobedience (so apparent in Victorian versions of the ghastly tale), but the perils of complicity in a world where the objectification of women's bodies and violent sexual imagery has become normalised.
Unlike some, Naylor is not for a moment suggesting that women get what they deserve, but she is raising the question that if we abhor sexual violence against women, why do we happily watch movies, read novels and share porn that promotes it? Are we colluding in our own oppression?
Although you have to applaud the attempt, she doesn't quite pull it off. Problematically, there is no room in this piece for the victims' voices: the show is presented entirely from the view of Bluebeard himself, an unreliable narrator (the creepily good Paul Mundell). The piece cleverly casts the audience as voyeurs, and works hard to titillate even as it horrifies. But Naylor seldom finds a way to conjure the language and imagery of pornography without resorting to pornography. The result is an hour that is uncomfortable, but not always in a useful way. It's most interesting in its suggestion that it's female trespass into Bluebeard's own bloody psyche that puts her in most danger.
Tweet
#Iwasthere
• Did you catch this show – or any other recently? Tell us about it
using #Iwasthere
Rating: 2/5 Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.
Hattie Naylor's bold attempt to explore women's complicity in sexual violence through a male abuser's voice is both insightful and uncomfortable
In traditional versions of Perrault's 19th-century tale, the young bride who defies her husband and looks behind the forbidden door is saved in the nick of time by her brothers. In Angela Carter's magnificent retelling, it is the girl's mother who rides to her rescue. But where is the young woman who can save herself from the sexually violent and murderous impulses of the world's Bluebeards?
Hattie Naylor's bold and thoughtful take suggests that we will not find her as long as women remain in thrall to the thrill of the demon lover. Her 21st-century version preaches not the dangers of curiosity or disobedience (so apparent in Victorian versions of the ghastly tale), but the perils of complicity in a world where the objectification of women's bodies and violent sexual imagery has become normalised.
Unlike some, Naylor is not for a moment suggesting that women get what they deserve, but she is raising the question that if we abhor sexual violence against women, why do we happily watch movies, read novels and share porn that promotes it? Are we colluding in our own oppression?
Although you have to applaud the attempt, she doesn't quite pull it off. Problematically, there is no room in this piece for the victims' voices: the show is presented entirely from the view of Bluebeard himself, an unreliable narrator (the creepily good Paul Mundell). The piece cleverly casts the audience as voyeurs, and works hard to titillate even as it horrifies. But Naylor seldom finds a way to conjure the language and imagery of pornography without resorting to pornography. The result is an hour that is uncomfortable, but not always in a useful way. It's most interesting in its suggestion that it's female trespass into Bluebeard's own bloody psyche that puts her in most danger.
Tweet
#Iwasthere
• Did you catch this show – or any other recently? Tell us about it
using #Iwasthere
Rating: 2/5 Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.