Aren’t We All Ovary Acting is one woman’s rant against the crushing pressures placed on women of all kinds to become mothers. Natalie Harper’s play (which she stars in as well) is amusing and gets to the heart of an issue experience by more women than not.
Harper delivers the monologue with excellent stage presence which puts the audience at complete ease. Just two minutes in, she’s cracking open a bottle of handbag wine at her friend’s flat, proceeding to download her horrible day as a primary school teacher. These woes have put her off ever wishing to be a mother, or any of the other roles that having children seems to require.
This admonition then triggers a tirade of justification of why she feels this way – and Harper raises more than a few fair points. The audience, some of them most likely parent themselves, were audibly guffawing at her most insightful (and cutting) observations of the downsides of parenthood. With excellent comic timing and easy charm, the piece avoided every being repetitive or dull, despite being focused on the one thing throughout.
The only thing that didn’t quite come across was the idea that Harper was talking to her friend. Her focus wandered around the audience, which was effective, however the ending of the piece really relied on us believing that there was another character involved in the piece.
But Harper had already brought enough humour, and made a damn good point, to enable the piece to succeed in its purpose regardless. A self-assured performance from a talented actress, however the piece didn’t quite feel like a short play, but rather a scene within a larger one, and could perhaps benefit from fleshing out some of the moments that were touched upon to bring more depth to the narrative and central character.
★★★★☆
LAURA ELLIS
The Open Door 