THE POWER OF HERSTORY
Women are finding their true place on stage — at the front and showing their strength, writes Amy De Bhrun
CALL TO ARMS: Writing in today’s newspaper, Amy De Bhrun asks why we are not more supportive of retelling the tales of Irish women forgotten by history.
WHY are we still uncomfortable with strong women taking the lead on stage?
Herstory founder Melanie Lynch approached me back in 2016, with the forgotten woman of Irish history — Lady Mary Heath.
Having seen some of my one-woman shows, she felt it could be an ideal fit.
From an initial opening monologue at the Herstory launch in the Rotunda and various events around Dublin, a new female-led show I See You was born.
I See You deals with two women. First, Lady Mary Heath — an incredible trailblazer from Limerick who witnessed the death of her mother at the hands of her father. In her short adult life, she campaigned for women’s sports in the Olympics, served as a dispatch rider in World War I, was the first woman to parachute out of a plane, was the first female commercial pilot, was the first person to fly the length of Africa… and yet she tragically got lost in the walls of history (or was written out — I’ll let you decide). Her story is set against that of a fictional ‘‘Modern Mary’’, who is stuck in an abusive relationship after falling pregnant in a pre-repealed modern Ireland.
Surely, a show like this is an easy sell? I mean, we beg to see more female written, produced and directed work… and without consciously setting out to tick those boxes we did.
The show was described as “powerful”, “a call to arms” and “a passionate plea for female self-empowerment”.
But not everyone was comfortable watching two women on stage, unapologetically standing in their own power and calling out injustice in all its form.
When the wonderful talent that is Emmet Kirwan did so beautifully in his spoken word short film, Heartbreak, from the award-winning play Riot, it garnered praise and awards.
So why then was it so uncomfortable, when two women stood on stage essentially doing the same thing — standing in their power proclaiming the right for bodily autonomy and an end to the cycle of female oppression?
Lyn Gardner, renowned theatre writer for The Stage publication in the UK, says it best in her piece Taking up Space: “The combined power of these young women on stage. They scare us. Because that is what happens when the marginalised, the discounted and the previously invisible start to claim space. They make us uncomfortable when they look us directly in the eye, and refuse to look away.”
When women on stage, unashamedly shine a light on their power, it feels uncomfortable. And it is — because it is new. We are not women on stage laughing at ourselves and our foibles, providing the comic relief or performing in an outdated play that has been dug up because it fills the quota of female players.
We are claiming space. We are not apologising for it. We are standing as women of today in all our glory.
And this can be triggering for audiences who are not used to it. Take, for example, this extract from a spoken word piece from I See You: “Hear the women that went before, Seek them out and hear them roar. Allow their voices to burst through, for there is nothing that you cannot do.”
Some may claim that it is irresponsible to tell women that there is ‘‘nothing that they cannot do’’. And with that claim, female empowerment has become ‘‘dangerous’’ again.
It sends a message to the masses that when a man stands on stage in his power calling out injustice, that it is enlightened and inspired.
But when a woman does the same, it is irresponsible and dangerous.
We are in our infancy in this evolution of female empowerment and evolution and although it may feel uncomfortable for people, it is essential that our national stages are a place where women are encouraged to stand in their power.
We must tell these women’s stories. We must unapologetically look our audience in the eye. We must stand in our power.
Shaming women into silence in this country is a thing of the past, or at least it should be. Through our art we can find our voice… and our voices deserve to be heard.
It has been a long enough time coming.
‘We are claiming space. We are not apologising. We are standing as women of today in all our glory’