Jenny Nimon
White Men is the satire you’d expect from its name. Five men, played by women, ignore their survival instincts in favour of preserving their money, status and order as the sea rises around them. It is absurd, while at the same time being completely realistic and recognisable to just about anyone who has encountered a white man – the truth of it being that it is not the show that is absurd, but the patriarchy. And in 2021, after men like Donald Trump and Boris Johnson have opted for “just carrying on” in the face of a pandemic and a climate emergency, it takes on a new kind of realism.
This has been a long-awaited show for me. I was excited when Red Scare Theatre Company first announced the show back in February 2020, and after two postponements due to COVID-19 lockdowns, my anticipation was only amplified. It feels good to be welcomed back into a theatre (and with ticket scanners; well done BATS) after a month of isolation. It also feels good to support artists in a time when the industry is struggling.
To the credit of the cast and crew, White Men has been pulled together under some pretty difficult circumstances – Zoom rehearsals, cast changes, cancellations – but the show doesn’t quite land for me. It might just be that my expectations, considering the cast, crew and content, are too high to begin with, but I keep waiting for more. Emma Katene and Sameena Zehra stand out for their vibrancy and distinct characterisations, but the overall show lacks the punch that it needs. On opening night, the performers do not bring the level of energy required to carry the show for 50 minutes, and because White Men is staged in a way that has the performers seated and separate for the majority of the time, that energy is really needed to compensate for the lack of physical dynamism. I really enjoy Abby Howells’s script and some of the things it jabs at (shout out to the “childbearing hips” joke and the all too accurate representation of the way men act in board meetings), but I would love to see it performed with a bit more oomph. This might emerge as the season progresses and the performers get more comfortable.
In terms of the design of the show, the costuming and make-up (Emma Stevens, Aimee Smith and Emma Katene) are effective. I particularly like how hyperbolic the white face paint is and how it alludes to other comedic theatre styles like, dare I say it, pantomime. I have mixed feelings about the set design. I am always a big fan of Lucas Neal’s work, and the wave sheets do fit well with the general exaggerated aesthetic. On one hand the set does a lot of heavy lifting to establish the hierarchy that is so important to the play, but it also hampers any opportunity for movement of physical interaction, which could have lifted the show if done well. We see this when a raft comes on stage and the performers have to climb over the set first before they can actually reach the raft to then fight over it. The set has really been designed to keep the performers in their boxes. This, paired with the level of energy in the performance, means that the pacing lags at times. Hopefully it will tighten up over the next few nights.
White Men is a ridiculous and honest piece of work, and it is the kind of content that lots of people need right now. It is so important to get out and support artists in any way that you can right now, so please do that. Congratulations to Red Scare for pulling this show together and selling out the season. For more information, please visit the Red Scare website.
To the credit of the cast and crew, White Men has been pulled together under some pretty difficult circumstances – Zoom rehearsals, cast changes, cancellations – but the show doesn’t quite land for me. It might just be that my expectations, considering the cast, crew and content, are too high to begin with, but I keep waiting for more. Emma Katene and Sameena Zehra stand out for their vibrancy and distinct characterisations, but the overall show lacks the punch that it needs. On opening night, the performers do not bring the level of energy required to carry the show for 50 minutes, and because White Men is staged in a way that has the performers seated and separate for the majority of the time, that energy is really needed to compensate for the lack of physical dynamism. I really enjoy Abby Howells’s script and some of the things it jabs at (shout out to the “childbearing hips” joke and the all too accurate representation of the way men act in board meetings), but I would love to see it performed with a bit more oomph. This might emerge as the season progresses and the performers get more comfortable.
In terms of the design of the show, the costuming and make-up (Emma Stevens, Aimee Smith and Emma Katene) are effective. I particularly like how hyperbolic the white face paint is and how it alludes to other comedic theatre styles like, dare I say it, pantomime. I have mixed feelings about the set design. I am always a big fan of Lucas Neal’s work, and the wave sheets do fit well with the general exaggerated aesthetic. On one hand the set does a lot of heavy lifting to establish the hierarchy that is so important to the play, but it also hampers any opportunity for movement of physical interaction, which could have lifted the show if done well. We see this when a raft comes on stage and the performers have to climb over the set first before they can actually reach the raft to then fight over it. The set has really been designed to keep the performers in their boxes. This, paired with the level of energy in the performance, means that the pacing lags at times. Hopefully it will tighten up over the next few nights.
White Men is a ridiculous and honest piece of work, and it is the kind of content that lots of people need right now. It is so important to get out and support artists in any way that you can right now, so please do that. Congratulations to Red Scare for pulling this show together and selling out the season. For more information, please visit the Red Scare website.