Review: Women Who Wank

*TW: cringey innuendo

It wasn’t without trepidation that I entered School 1 last week for Joanne Tremarco’s improvised, one-woman show, ‘Women Who Wank’.

In the run-up to the play, I was reluctant to call it what it was. I feared that when I asked people, ‘Would you like to come and see ‘Women who Wank’?’, the type of invitation I was extending might be misinterpreted. If questioned, I wasn’t even sure how to describe it – the event synopsis itself was vague: ‘expect bald truths and hairy moments…’ what did that mean?

All was revealed over the next hour as The Fool transitioned seamlessly between characters. With an overarching theme of ‘fear of female sexuality’, the scenes she enacted showed the extent to which this pervades cultures the world over.

To set the scene, the show began with an elderly man, the ghost of the university: institutional sexism and outdated ideas about ‘hysterical harpies’ embodied. This set the tone for the rest of the show. In true tragicomic manner, it was simultaneously hilarious and sadly true.

Things took a much more serious turn in a segment which discussed FGM, which depicted a grandmother deliberating over whether or not she should carry out ‘the tradition’ on her grandchild, and inviting the audience to help her reach a decision. The total silence in the room spoke volumes. The slightly nervous, empathetic laughter had gone as no-one was quite sure how to react to this stark presentation of such a controversial issue.

It was hard to tell how it was received overall, but that she explained that FGM is not an exclusively Islamic practice (it is carried out in some Christian communities, and its origins are uncertain), and its presence in Western medicine (cliterodectomy was once considered a legitimate treatment for women with ‘hysteria’) challenged the ‘saviour’ narrative that might otherwise have come across.

The show culminated in the public confession we had all feared (though from the title, really should have expected): ‘I’m a wanker – are you? Raise your hand if you are!’, and led to a side-splitting enactment of a dinner-table conversation an audience member had with their mother. It soon, er, climaxed with another being invited to conduct ‘a choir of wankers’, as the rest of the audience came together to sigh, grunt, and ‘oh, ja!’ in celebration of overcoming the taboo of female masturbation.

I’m sure this all leaves you, as I was, in no doubt that the show was intense, thought-provoking and confrontational – one might call it an unscripted, one-woman Vagina Monologues. Tremarco was energetic and engaging; coaxing, not coercing, the audience’s participation and skilfully reading our reactions.

I spent my Friday watching ‘Women Who Wank’, and I loved it. If you didn’t come the first time round, there’s talk of an encore performance this semester – start preparing your ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s now.

‘Women Who Wank’ was presented in conjunction with The Feminist Society, and raised funds for Fife Women’s Aid.