That Bloody Woman
Sep. 5th, 2016 08:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cyphomandraEveryone here is sick, grumpy and unpredictable, so reheating dinner and eating half of it has taken me an hour and a half so far. So this is brief:
That Bloody Woman is an enthusiastic and entertaining punk rock musical about Kate Sheppard, the suffragette who got women the vote in New Zealand in 1893; it celebrates her while it looks at how far things have come - and how far they still have to go.
The songs are great. The staging is rock concert with a platform out into the audience, which worked well (there's a fair bit of interaction - I had a backing guy grinding enthusiastically next to me during one song), and the costumes were brilliant - Kate (Esther Stephens, excellent) goes from Victorian to punk, all in white, throughout the play, while her antagonist, the then Prime Minister Richard Seddon who rejoices in the historically accurate nickname King Dick is, um, dressed appropriately.
Kate is on the NZ $10 note, and a few reviews have mentioned Hamilton (one of the creators says it was actually the earlier musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jacksonthat sparked the idea; it's not as musically clever, although it has its moments (the opening title number manages to rhyme "man-hating menstruator" with "shit-stirring agitator"), but it is good. And they are currently fundraising for a soundtrack recording, with three days to go. The website is not the most helpful, but I believe all donors will get a copy.
I mentioned how far things had to go. Kate's temperance work is linked to an attempt to reduce domestic violence, still all too prevalent, and while she gets the audience to agree to the principles of feminism, it's obvious that she knows that what you do matters more than what you say. Which is why the scene in which the bill is finally passed (on its third attempt) works so well; banners tumble down from the ceiling, showing the signatures that signed her petition, and showing who was prepared to follow her into action.
That Bloody Woman is an enthusiastic and entertaining punk rock musical about Kate Sheppard, the suffragette who got women the vote in New Zealand in 1893; it celebrates her while it looks at how far things have come - and how far they still have to go.
The songs are great. The staging is rock concert with a platform out into the audience, which worked well (there's a fair bit of interaction - I had a backing guy grinding enthusiastically next to me during one song), and the costumes were brilliant - Kate (Esther Stephens, excellent) goes from Victorian to punk, all in white, throughout the play, while her antagonist, the then Prime Minister Richard Seddon who rejoices in the historically accurate nickname King Dick is, um, dressed appropriately.
Kate is on the NZ $10 note, and a few reviews have mentioned Hamilton (one of the creators says it was actually the earlier musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jacksonthat sparked the idea; it's not as musically clever, although it has its moments (the opening title number manages to rhyme "man-hating menstruator" with "shit-stirring agitator"), but it is good. And they are currently fundraising for a soundtrack recording, with three days to go. The website is not the most helpful, but I believe all donors will get a copy.
I mentioned how far things had to go. Kate's temperance work is linked to an attempt to reduce domestic violence, still all too prevalent, and while she gets the audience to agree to the principles of feminism, it's obvious that she knows that what you do matters more than what you say. Which is why the scene in which the bill is finally passed (on its third attempt) works so well; banners tumble down from the ceiling, showing the signatures that signed her petition, and showing who was prepared to follow her into action.
no subject
Date: 2016-09-05 10:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-06 01:46 am (UTC)That is memorable!
I like the idea of the Victorian-punk transformation.
no subject
Date: 2016-09-06 03:15 pm (UTC)I hope all feel better soon.