All about men, without them

By MELANYA BURROWS


High fashion meets high society at the SiLo Theatre, where the latest production is a breakneck romp through the battle of the sexes - with nary a man to be seen.

The Women, by American playwright Clare Boothe Luce, is a withering and hilarious look at how relationships between women are affected by the relationships they have with their men.

The action happens entirely in the female domain - fashion houses, beauty parlours, powder rooms, perfume counters, luncheon tables and downstairs in kitchens and servants' quarters.

All the characters are women, although the play revolves around marriage, love and fidelity.

Written and set in 1930s Manhattan, the play was a hit on Broadway and later made into a movie featuring Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell and Norma Shearer.

Here, it features a cast of eight young actresses including Sally Stockwell, Anna Hutchison, Hannah Tolich and Susan Brady, and is helmed by actor-turned-director Katie Wolfe.

"It's extraordinary, almost unheard of to have such a large character play that is only women," says Wolfe. "It's such a fantastically crafted play, 12 very clean scenes, and 44 characters.

"The actresses play multiple roles, and it plays to their strengths - these characters are complex, intelligent, witty women. It's very much a true ensemble piece, whereas the movie focused on the three main stars because it was in the studio star system.

"There is not a man in the play, but it's all about men. It uses a host of clever devices to tell the story without men, for example, when the divorce happens, we hear about it as the maid acts out for the cook in the kitchen the argument between the husband and wife. The maid's quite the budding actress and it's a delightful scene."

Wolfe, who has been directing television (Shortland Street), jumped at the chance to direct her first stage play when the SiLo asked her to tackle The Women. Her interest had been piqued by a Vanity Fair article about Luce.

"She fascinated me. Here was a woman who had come from nothing and made her way to the top through the men in her life, but who was also brilliant in her own right."

Luce was the illegitimate daughter of her itinerant violinist father and poor but genteel mother. She went from humble beginnings into wealth and society, variously becoming an ambassador, Vanity Fair managing editor, playwright and politician. It was her advantageous marriages, Reno divorce and life as a New York socialite that inspired The Women.

"This is totally a period piece," says Wolfe. "The Women is about the attitudes and social mores of the 1930s. The 30s were really quite otherworldly, between the two wars, as people pulled themselves out of the Depression. It was very conservative, but at the same time very romantic and very modernistic.

"To modernise The Women would make the characters very unusual, and the whole point is that they are not for their time. It's about women of status and women with no status. You get all these service characters - cooks, maids, servants - it's really important in the play how they are treated and how their ambitions simmer beneath the surface.

"These women suddenly had an in and could rise through society. The Women is as much an exploration of class, as of marriage, fidelity, sex, ambition."

The idea of wealth and luxury is primarily communicated by clothes - the work has a tradition of the costumes being designed by leading fashion designers of the time - from Adrian for the 1939 movie, to Isaac Mizrahi for the 2000 New York revival.

For this production, some of New Zealand's top fashion houses are involved, including Liz Mitchell, Zambesi, State of Grace and Trelise Cooper.

"All the principal characters are Manhattan socialites, so their costumes are important," says Wolfe. "You have to believe these outfits are exceptional. We told the designers to go to town, give us haute couture. And the amazing thing is, when you see all the costumes, they are remarkably period in their look - I think haute couture transcends time."

While the costumes are from contemporary collections, all the actresses wear authentic 1930s accessories.

Wolfe also feels strongly about grounding the play in its American setting, as well as its time. She has put together a soundtrack featuring women singers who performed in Manhattan in the 30s, and the actresses are all performing with accents. Wolfe wouldn't have it any other way.

"It's all about gossip and pace, and it is necessary to have that fast, clipped, percussive sound of the American accent."

On stage

*What: The Women

*Where and when: SiLo Theatre, tonight to Nov 6