A Common Woman

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Event A Common Woman
Venue Half Moon Theatre, London, England
First Date 7 February 1989
Last Date 4 March 1989
Dates Estimated No
Status Professional
World Premiere No
Part of a Tour Yes
Description "A Common Woman unites three one-woman plays written by the irrepressible Italian duo Franca Rame and Dario Fo. [...] 'Bless Me Father for I have Sinned', whose flamboyantly heretical heroine exudes a peculiarly Irish theatricality, is set in a church in Dublin in the early 70s. Having escaped from the clutches of her family, she foolishly imagines the Church to be a place of sanctity and the Holy Father to be a friend. The idea of the confessional thus becomes a neat device for structuring the tale of a woman who is a monument to the kind of vitality unfailingly bred by repressively religious societies. [...] 'The Rape' is set, as the programme note tells us, 'anywhere, anytime'. Recounting this incident based on Franca Rame's own experience with a fascist gang, Ms Hanna adopts a bloodless tone and manner of delivery which is in itself testimony of the violence done to her. 'Coming Home' sees the versatile Ms Hanna transformed into a woman who measures her anger on a pocket rage calculator and leaves her bestial spouse determined to get revenge on the 21 second spasm which in his book goes by the name of making love." (The Guardian)
Description Source Reviewer's Opinion
Primary Genre Theatre - Spoken Word
Secondary Genre Monodrama
Subjects Rape
Religion
Sex
Women
Women's Issues
Organisations
Contributors
Name Function Notes
Alison Fowler Company Manager
Trevor Dunford Consultant Technical Advisor
Jeff Harrison Consultant Technical Advisor
Andrea Montag Designer
Sharon Miller Director
Jon Linstrum Lighting Designer
Gillian Hanna Performer
Dario Fo Playwright
Franca Rame Playwright
Gillian Waite Stage Manager
Gillian Hanna Translator
Text Nationality Italy
Production Nationality England
Event Status Completed
Data Source
Source Description
Press Release Press releases, Monstrous Regiment Theatre Company Archive, Victoria and Albert Museum
Programme Programmes, Monstrous Regiment Theatre Company Archive, Victoria and Albert Museum
Newspaper Press clippings, Monstrous Regiment Theatre Company Archive, Victoria and Albert Museum
Event Identifier 132062
Dataset AusStage