Type – Adaptation, Retelling, Shakespearean
If you liked – SIX the Musical, She Speaks! What Shakespeare’s Women Might Have Said, Hamlet Camp
Harlots: Imbued with the ‘herstory’ of SIX, Shakespeare’s women are rewritten in an intense world of female reclamation.
The reclamation of women’s voices from literary history (or herstory) is a current source of great fodder for new pieces of writing and – specifically – adaptation. See SIX or the most recent Pride and Prejudice * (*sort of) if you require sources. New Ghosts Theatre Company present femme-focused storytelling with a number of great, home-run shows already under their belt. Their latest production is no different with the premiere of new Australian work: Harlots.
Written by Emma Wright, the work builds on the lives and worlds of Hermione (Megan O’Connell) and Paulina (Hannah Waterman) of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. Set in a deep ethereal world, they provide a nice ‘what if?’ for their sixteen-year disappearance within the story. Kate Beere‘s award-worthy set design evokes a liminal space with a smattering of Prospero’s island in The Tempest. Vines creep downwards through dirt and around dug out cubby holes on which book shelves have been made and firepits carved. Lanterns on pulley-system ropes sit on wooden panels, suggesting support beams, while a netted roof punctuates shadows through Luna Yuet Yee Ng‘s otherworldly lighting design. The design team make a strong argument for their inclusion on the next season of The Block.
Quickly, we see that Hermione and Paulina have made this space a kind of home for Shakespeare’s other silenced women. Here, they drink mushroom-infused tea and engage in ye olde group therapy, expelling the patriarchal structures that pushed them to the brink of death just for existing. It’s not clear at first what the end goal is here, until the re-emergence of Hiro (Madeline Li) in the final scene. Bringing the foundations of Wright’s puzzle-like dialogue into clear focus, she ends on a brutal performance worthy of the Sydney Theatre Company stages.
Within the hexad of performers, there is an ebb and flow of balance, power, and intimacy. At its centre, Madeline Li’s Hiro emerges as the play’s sheer brute force. Able to flick into despair and feminine rage at a moment’s notice, her performance is a sublime offering in an already magnificent production.
Janine Watson‘s direction is generous in the emotional realism imbued to lift the women off the pages – ensuring what could have been a cliched reimagining is turned into something with great heft and depth. Wright’s text uses four of Shakespeare’s women to explore their patriarchal muting – Hermione, Paulina, Hiro, Helena (Ella Prince), and Ophelia (Ana Ika) – with the occasional appearance by Beatrice (Jo Downing) who acts as the “real world” thread between realms.
The execution in Wright’s script sits just underneath finished. There are stretches of time where the text seems purposefully unclear, as though a reliance on audience’s familiarity with the source material is to meant do the heavy lifting. Other characters feel underutilised and yearning for more breathing room before the abrupt return into their literary world at the play’s end.
Aloma Barnes Siraswar‘s costumes prove romantically appropriate whilst imbuing each thread with feminine grandeur covering a body wanting to break free. Similarly, Clare Hennessy‘s sound design provides a subtle grandeur underneath dialogue, whilst other times we hear disembodied voice fly around the space with ghostly intimacy.
Is Harlots Worth Seeing in Sydney?
As far as Shakespearean adaptations go, Harlots o’erleaps others for its bold reclamation of feminine voices. It feels like something we may have seen before, yet feels wholly fresh at the same time. The creatives team’s emphasis on design alone is worth the price of admission.
Come see Shakespeare’s women differently and ponder what could have been for them in a different world structure. “Come, lady, die to live”
Tickets and Practical Info for Harlots in Sydney 🎟️
Until 6th September, Old Fitz Theatre
Tickets: https://www.oldfitztheatre.com.au/
Cast and Creative Team
PRODUCTION COMPANY: New Ghosts Theatre Company | WRITER: Emma Wright | DIRECTOR: Janine Watson | PRODUCERS: Lucy Clements & Emma Wright | STAGE MANAGER: Megan Heferen | PRODUCTION MANAGER: Izzy Morrissey | SET DESIGNER: Kate Beere | COSTUME DESIGNER: Aloma Barnes Siraswar | LIGHTING DESIGNER: Luna Yuet Yee Ng | SOUND DESIGNER: Clare Hennessy | ASSISTANT DIRECTOR & DRAMATURG: Jess Tovey | DRAMATURGICAL CONSULTANT: Marion Potts | INTIMACY & PHYSICAL SAFETY CONSULTANT: Chloe Dallimore | PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Poppy White | ALTERATIONS & SEWING ASSISTANT: Andrea Tan
Cast (of 6): ‘Ana Ika, Ella Prince, Hannah Waterman, Jo Downing, Madeline Li, Megan O’Connell
This listing is updated as cast/creatives are confirmed in the lead-up to the production, and if there are changes to the team.
Approximate Run Time: 100 minutes
Content Warnings: Strong language; references to physical abuse (including visible injuries such as bruising, though acts of violence are not depicted); forced medication; substance use; death; suicidal ideation; references to domestic violence, rape, suicide, and infanticide; misogyny.
