Stage

THE WAR between the sexes certainly seems to be dominating Dublin stages these days. In The Mai at the Peacock, the male character is slowly marginalised, and in Refugees at the Eblana, the man exists only as an object of mockery, whose prick has been removed by his wife’s knife.

Women who might applaud the action of the wife in the latter, had better get ready for male retaliation in the form of David Mamet’s Oleanna (Gate Theatre). During one particular performance of this play – which focuses on sexual harassment, and the politics of power in an American university – one male was heard to shout from the audience “hit the bitch”.

Stanley Townshend plays the central male lead, a professor. What form of response does he anticipate from Dublin audiences and does Stanley believe Mamet is basically saying “fuck feminism”?

“Some people may see it as a backlash against feminism, but he’s said that’s not what it’s all about,” he responds. “But, even so, we’ve been very careful to try and balance the script, in the hope that it will inflame the debate. Because, if you give one side too much credibility the debate ends almost immediately and I don’t think that’s what Mamet would want. Yet, in a way, maybe he is also saying ‘political correctness’ has gone too far, I want to articulate this side of the equation.”

Can that be justified when it inspires cries of “hit the bitch”, in reference to a woman who is fighting back against sexual harassment.

“That’s the question every person who sees the play has to ask themselves,” he says. “And although maybe not every man will shout ‘hit the bitch’ it will divide feelings. A couple of people I know, who saw the play in America, were thinking ‘yeah, go on, hit her’. And then two minutes later, when they realised what they’d been thinking, they went ‘oh my God’.”

But isn’t Mamet the kind of writer who likes to unleash such primal forces within men, and women, whether that is through his film scripts or plays?

“Yes. He does phrase fundamental things in a fundamental manner,” says Stanley. “And he is a very manipulative writer, in terms of the audience. But I think his real aim, beyond inflaming the debate about sexism, is to examine the abuse of power. And when the shock of the more sexist elements to the play settle down, the work will probably be remembered more as an exploration of sexual politics in the broadest sense and the question of how two people can enter into meaningful dialogue when one holds power over the other. That’s what Oleanna is all about, to me.”

Recommended: For those who prefer a slice of baroque romanticism rather than sexual politics, Good Company – who rank among Britain’s leading national touring companies – are bringing their production of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights to the Olympia theatre for one week only, from November 8th. Obviously, Emily Bronte’s work is open to a revisionist reading and feminists would probably hate Cathy’s cry of ‘I am Heathcliff’, but if it’s a dark-hearted love story you want – well, here it is. Jason Riddington plays Heathcliff and Hareton Earnshaw plays Cathy.