The Female of the Species; comedy farce theatre review

NO FEMME FATALE: Amanda Muggleton as Margot Mason (seated) and Rhiannon Owen as Molly Rivers in rehearsals for The Female of the Species. Image: Shane Reid.


The Funny Side of Feminism by Linh

Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith’s play, The Female of the
Species, is inspired by an incident involving famous feminist Germaine Greer, who was gagged and cuffed by a teenage girl at her country house in Essex.

That’s where the similarities end. The real dramatic thrust begins when family, friends and strangers enter the feminist’s home; forcing her to account for the legacy of her feminist polemics. The Female of the Species is about sexual politics, generational differences and the power and consequences of feminist literature.

One of Australia’s leading ladies of the stage, Amanda Muggleton, stars as the infamous feminist author of The Cerebral Vagina, Margot Mason.
Margot Mason is suffering serious writer’s block and facing deadline after deadline, as her publisher pushes for her to complete the latest best seller.
Margot is a witty and foul-mouthed provocateur, who loves French windows because they’re “slim, stylish and up themselves”.
Muggleton is superbly sharp with the puns and quick with the verbal twists, all delivered with panache; even though she performs most of the play while handcuffed to a table.

Rhiannon Owen makes her debut with the State Theatre of SA as Molly Rivers, the gun-toting teenager who takes Margot Mason hostage.
Molly Rivers was one of Margot’s students, yet her admiration turns to accusation. Molly blames Margot for ruining her life and for her mother’s death. Molly’s Mum took all of Margot’s advice and gave away her baby so as not to be enslaved by motherhood. She then jumped under a train as she was clutching The Cerebral Vagina to her breasts. Molly becomes a fan of the feminist and decides to sterilise herself in order to preserve her creativity. She becomes disheartened and angry when Margot tells her she has no talent.
Rhiannon Owen is capable of holding an audience captivated as her character holds Margot hostage. Owen handles the wordy and intelligent script with the same proficiency her character handles the handgun throughout the play. She is definitely one talented actress to watch in the future.

Adelaide’s own Michaela Cantwell plays Margot Mason’s daughter, Tess, who stumbles into her mother’s home in a state of exhaustion and confusion.
Tess has mindlessly wandered from her house, before taking a taxi to her mother’s home in order to escape the relentless noise of her children.
Tess is not too impressed when she hears of her mother’s disparaging remarks about motherhood being a form of domestic servitude. Tess has never known her father and her mother tries to keep it that way.
Michaela Cantwell is flawlessly funny and fiercely frank as the daughter of a celebrity feminist and an exhausted mother who refuses to go home until she knows “where Pokemons go for their holidays.”

The male members of the cast also have their way with the play’s questioning of the power and consequences arising from feminism.

Well-travelled Adelaidean, Peter Michell, portrays Tess’ doting and devoted husband, Bryan.
Bryan is a hardworking stockbroker who constantly spouts hilarious double entendres such as “I love you Tess, you know I’ve always mounted you on a pedestal.”
Peter Michell is a joy to watch and succeeds in making Bryan (a very sensitive new age guy) the only likeable character in the play.

Talented thespian and playwright Tony Briggs is the very masculine and macho taxi driver, Frank.
Frank enters Margot Mason’s home in order to ask Tess why she won’t listen to his problems. He also seems to know what women want and how he can give it to them.
Tony Briggs is in excellent form as the virile and ethnic young male, and adds a different level of energy to the play.

Allrounder Geoff Revell hams it up as Margot Mason’s over-the-top gay publisher, Theo.
Theo has been a long time friend and publisher to Margot, and was hassling her, over the phone, for a copy of her latest book before Molly appeared.
Geoff Revell is fabulously camp and convincing as the pushy publisher who holds a secret to Margot Mason’s past.
Although Theo appears only in the last thirty minutes of the play, Revell makes the most of every moment with his usual comic brilliance.

Production designer Mary Moore has created an awe-inspiring set where the cast is placed upon a huge open Macbook with a couple of bellowing (sacred) cows, and a living room adorned with many historical ‘female’ artefacts.

Director Catherine Fitzgerald has excelled in keeping the play engaging and entertaining for the audience and making it enjoyable for the actors.


NO ESCAPE: Margot Mason (Amanda Muggleton) tries to free herself as Molly Rivers (Rhiannon Owen) talks to Tess (Michaela Cantwell) in The Female of the Species. Image: Shane Reid.