Entertainment

Body Politics at play in society and in The MAC as part of Imagine! Belfast festival

The power society has over women’s bodies is the topical theme explored in Body Politics, to be performed at The MAC later this month, as part of the Imagine! Belfast festival. Producer, writer and director Jo Egan tells Gail Bell why it is necessary to keep the debate centre stage

Jo Egan at the Prime Cut rehearsal space in Belfast ahead of her Body Politics plays opening at The MAC. Picture by Hugh Russell
Jo Egan at the Prime Cut rehearsal space in Belfast ahead of her Body Politics plays opening at The MAC. Picture by Hugh Russell Jo Egan at the Prime Cut rehearsal space in Belfast ahead of her Body Politics plays opening at The MAC. Picture by Hugh Russell

BODY politics, as a concept, first interested Belfast-based producer, writer and director Jo Egan after her friend's daughter was banned from wearing shorts in the school playground – while doing handstands.

"She wanted to wear shorts to do handstands, for obvious reasons, but was prevented from changing to more practical clothing, simply because it 'wasn't part of the uniform'," Egan says, still looking aggrieved. "It's a small detail but it made me think how we can be indoctrinated to obey all our lives and how women are taught from an early age to conform with their bodies."

The founder of MACHA Productions took that thought and ran with it for a number of years, creatively speaking, to develop Body Politics – two back-to-back plays which examine bodily autonomy and which open in The MAC theatre as part of the Imagine! Belfast festival later this month.

The first, No Motive, is based around Daphne du Maurier's book of the same name and is set in Belfast, 1962, when Mary Agnew, who seems to "have it all", walks into her husband's study, loads her gun and promptly shoots herself. Private investigator Rachel McDoo travels through a maze of deceit, seeking a motive – but is then presented with a decision on what to do with "the truth" when she finds it.

Meanwhile, in "dark comedy" Sweeties the audience is fast-forwarded to Belfast, 2005, to meet Tracy, a gutsy woman who is terrified of the outside world. Her sister has had enough and buys a one-way ticket across the world – but first, she must find out what lies beneath..."

The suspense bubbles in both plays, alongside the need to carefully search beneath the surface for early events in the lives of the protagonists – the clues which might help us make sense of the circumstances they find themselves in as the dramas open.

It's all very topical, with women today, especially those in the celebrity stratosphere, finally having their day in court for misogynist mistreatments in the past, but, that said, Egan has been working on No Motive for 20 years and started writing Sweeties as far back as 2014.

"The job of a playwright is to hit on a zeitgeist, but both plays have been years in the making and have been based on true-life testimonies," says the writer.

"One part of Body Politics is based on the true story of a Belfast woman whose friend used to visit a paedophile when she was a child, while another is based on my own experience in a mother and baby home in Cork. Egan herself gave birth to her daughter in a mother and baby home in Cork in the late 1970s.

"In Sweeties, the script was inspired by my own sister who was agrophobic and also suffered from schizophrenia. Because of all this personal input and the time spent in bringing these two projects to completion, it will be a huge moment, not just for me, but for the women who gave me their stories, to finally see them brought to life on stage."

Entrusted with that job are three talented, up-and-coming actors, Emer McDaid, Sarah Reid and Louise Parker, who vibrantly convey the writer's sharp dialogue with wit and senstivity, while Conan McIvor takes on the task of setting the mood with artistic video projection.

"I don't know yet what exactly will be projected yet, but it will reflect the visualisation of layers of memories," explains Egan, who envisages such effects as light dappled on leaves, the hint of a dark alleyway, a door handle opening in slow motion...

"I'm just using my imagination here, as I don't know exactly what Conan will come with yet, but we will set the scene and evoke the atmosphere with the help of four screens on stage. At the heart of it all, though, these are stories of ordinary people falling through the cracks – the stuff that usually gets missed in the bigger picture."

Egan is particularly looking forward to the post-show discussion – one after each of the 11 performances – and believes the debate could "go anywhere".

"The main theme is bodily autonomy, but the conversation could go anywhere and that is very exciting," she says. "I love the way that theatre can just 'jump' you into the debate which was especially important when I was writing these plays because Stormont wasn't sitting and so I was aiming to create a space for democratic debate.

"In an ideal world, we wouldn’t have to make a piece such as Body Politics today but it isn’t an ideal world and we do. On a daily basis many women here and around the world are being stalked, harassed, objectified, overlooked in the workplace and trapped in caring roles or dangerous and loveless relationships and not being allowed to live their lives to their full potential.

Referencing the 'Bechdel test', used to measure the representation of women in fiction by asking whether a work features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man, she adds: "I think both plays categorically pass the Bechdel test and I hope they shine a light on these repressive social structures."

:: Body Politics, which includes an exhibition taken from the women's interviews and workshops, runs at The MAC from March 19-28 as part of Imagine Belfast. Details and full festival programme at imaginebelfast.com