I was in a shit show but my hair was really good: actresses in revolt

Sometimes actress Alejandra Theus puts her ear to the door of the hall to listen: should they be allowed up yet, so that they can star in fervently desired roles? But no, that glorious moment is in someone else’s hands. Mostly from men. So they are half-dressed and sentenced to a guard-cum-dressing room. There we witness how three top actresses in the ‘dangerous stage age’ of 42, decked out in bizarre compositions of iconic women’s costumes, smash time with a sharp play by Magne van den Berg, full of witty references to stage manners before and behind the scenes. . In language and gesture they wipe the floor with the still unequal division of roles in the theater world. However, they do not do this without self-mockery and self-criticism.

Even though women are increasingly at the helm, the vast majority of theater on offer in the Netherlands is still determined by male writers, directors, characters and artistic directors. That reduces the profession of actress to kneading eraser in male hands. The makers of this first performance by the Drenthe Production House Mrs. Ogterop – location Meppel – are revolting against this. In any case, with a strong start and a nice title: I was in a shit show but my hair was really good†

They hilariously juggle intonation, subtext and accents, to expose the finer points of the profession as well as power games, mutual competition and (pre)judgments. The fact that they themselves maintain skewed relationships is evident in everything. One (Theus) conforms like wax to writers’ wishes in order to be able to shine on the romantic backstage. The other (Lotte Dunselman) rebels mainly in the safe dark of the small hall. The third (Marjolein Ley) naively fishes for compliments under the guise of honesty. Three brave women, three stools and three windmill collars prove to be enough for this powerful ‘cunt’ classic.