Writer and performer Tanwen Stokes treads the line between comedy and tragedy in this one woman show starring a medieval anchoress.summary
Rating
Good
I enter the Canal Café Theatre to see Tanwen Stokes alone on-stage. Clad in nun’s garb, hands clasped in solemn prayer, she kneels — lips moving in quiet worship as James MacManus’ Church music gently floods the teeny-tiny-Little-Venice venue. All is calm.
Then, a voice from on high. Stokes’ character, we learn, is a newly appointed medieval anchoress: aka, a woman who has withdrawn from society to commit to a life of uninterrupted devotion to God. To do so, anchoresses would permanently seal themselves within a living tomb where they would spend their days worshipping God and/or doling out spiritual advice to those in need through a covered window.
But Sister Julian (Jules, for short) is not your typical bride of Christ. Through a series of conversations Jules has with her frequent, but silent, visitor Sister Agnes, the anchoress reveals that she has recently left her life as a sex worker to try a more ‘righteous’ one on for size instead. The decision has not been made because Jules wants to give up her plentiful and largely untaxing work on the infamous Cokkes Lane, mind; she is simply trying to avoid the latest bout of Black Death. Plus, rumour has it an anchoress gets to indulge in the body (bread) and blood (wine) of Christ all day long. Peace, quiet and a nice bottle of “exquisite Jesus’ blood”? Yes, please.
So begins an hour of medieval-style naughtiness. The show is Fleabag-esque, with a 14th century twist. Jules tells us all about her life: its many escapades, and those who filled them (Pervy Prior Peaky, to pick one particularly memorable example). Tanwen is a properly funny performer; we get an excellent rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” (reworked as “Nuns Just Wanna Have Fun”) and stories of Jules’ sexual appetite get some very willing giggles from the audience.
But this is much more than a funny show about horny nuns and the sex they may or may not be having. As the story progresses it takes a far more serious turn, and we witness Jules’ experience of sexual assault at the hands of the bishop who, despite shaming and spiritually condemning Jules and all the women on Cokkes Lane, profits directly from the sanctions imposed upon them. Jules is an analysis of the hypocrisy of the church; an exposé of the truly grim goings on behind the religious scenes; and a commentary on the shameful relationship women (medieval and otherwise) are encouraged to have with their bodies and with the physical pleasures they use said bodies to pursue.
Tanwen and director Miriam Botzenhardt might consider finding a way to guide audience members to the final portion of the show with a slightly gentler touch. The closing moments are powerful, but at present are a little too ‘shocking’ (and graphic) to be digested properly. But Jewels remains an effecting, timely production about what it meant to be a woman in the 1300’s — and what it means to be a woman in the 2020s.
Written by: Tanwen Stokes
Directed by: Miriam Botzenhardt
Music and artwork by: James MacManus
Jewels played at Canal Cafe as an Edinburgh Fringe Festival Preview. It will be playing at Just The Tonic At The Caves from 8 to 14 August. Further information and tickets available here.
