Culture

Written by Madeline George, Directed by Charlotte Waalkens. Starring: Rina Cohen, Miriam Noonan, Victoria Bernard and Tarn Felton (2.5/5).

Four women have decided to take the plunge and get liposuction. The goal for all is obvious – get rid of the fat. Each woman tells us how they have ended up in the clinic and how their issues with their weight began.

 
For some of the women, fat is recently acquired. For others, it has been a constant and unwelcome companion. All like to eat but the emotional hole they are trying to fill varies from woman to woman. One is at the clinic because her husband had signed a blank check and left it on the bedside table. Others finally want to be free of what they feel is holding them back in life.
 

The play is comprised of short scenes which, as I mentioned before, detail the struggles that each woman has faced when it comes to body issues. The general convention was to have one woman narrating their story while the other actors pitched in to help give the story life. I was pleased to see that Waalkens had introduced stylised elements to the piece, as there is nothing worse than the talking heads situation, which this piece easily could have become.
 

There were some really striking images, for example the beautifully simple scene where Felton’s character goes from job to job only to be told she’s too old and too fat to be considered for the position, or when Cohen’s character took us through her photo album.
However, the choreography at times wasn’t as tight as it could have been which left the actors floundering, with certain movements seeming to lack motivation. I think maybe with a bit more rehearsal time these kinks could have been ironed out.
 

For a first time director this was a pretty solid effort and I look forward to seeing what Waalkens does next.