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Camden Fringe
Written with inside knowledge of working in a strip club, Whiplash is a brave and insightful show that will leave you reassessing any preconceived opinions. Summary
Rating
Excellent
A show about a strip club is always going to garner certain instant reactions before you’ve stepped foot in the theatre. Let’s be honest, many will already have judged it to be exploitative, only for dirty, sleazy men, and filled with objectified women. The very same judgements might be thrown at the clubs themselves, feeding our need to be offended, shocked, and to feel we’re better than those working in such establishments.
But what if the show was written by a woman who has worked in a club, who knew the realities of it? A woman who had used it as a way to pay her way through drama school? Does that, should that, change how we feel? Because that is what Rachel Isobel Heritage has done, and Whiplash is the remarkable result.
It’s a brave venture in many ways, not just because of how people might pre-judge both the show and those involved. It’s not the usual ‘stripper makes good’ or ‘seedy club owner gets his comeuppance’ that you might expect. It is instead much more nuanced, offering strong arguments in support of both the clubs and the workers. Equally as brave are the costumes that leave little to the imagination, whilst the platform shoes are surely a broken ankle waiting to happen!
Nemesis (a powerful Hannah Cauchi) has returned, older and wiser, to the club she worked at until being sacked following an altercation with a customer. But it’s a totally different industry now. Covid and the cost of living crisis having decimated the customer base. There are also fewer clubs, several closed down by local authorities for licence breaches. But if you think fewer clubs would mean more money for those still open, well that’s not the case for the workers, further exploited by owners who can now impose stricter rules and higher commissions on staff desperate to keep their job. When John, the customer who lost her the job initially, reappears and does something to one of the other girls (a sweetly innocent Rosie Carson), Nemesis realises it’s time to take action. Luckily there’s a friendly journalist at hand eager to write a story, as long as Nemesis helps put some teeth into it.
It’s fascinating to watch a show written with such intimate knowledge, and Heritage (who also plays dancer Nikki) squeezes every drop of her experiences into her script. It’s very much written from a female perspective, which is a great thing if we are ever going to have proper conversations about such occupations. “Somehow they will find a way to blame the bad behaviour of men on us” and “Try to take a stripper case to court, see how far you get” offer insights into the realities faced.
Erin Patterson‘s portrayal of the journalist is surely a great representation of the public as a whole. She’s already convinced that the best thing for these women would be to see another club closed down, without having ever actually asked the workers’ opinions.
There is scope to tidy up the pacing. Currently the real crux of the show seems squeezed into the last third, taking a little too long to reach the gritty truths. As much as it is impressive to witness the performers pole dancing, it begins to feel like unnecessary filler. Reducing that could help tighten things up and allow time and space to explore more of the themes.
But there’s more than enough to admire everywhere else in the play, so small issues can be overlooked. Heritage’s script is powerful and insightful, offering a viewpoint that is all too easily disregarded, and yet should, in an ideal and equal world, be the one that is listened to first.
Cast: Hannah Cauchi, Rosie Carson, Rachel Isobel Heritage, Phoebe Natasha-White, Anna Roy, Lauren Shotton, Erin Patterson, Chris Agha, Gregor Copeland, Alessandro Woodbridge
Written by: Rachel Isobel Heritage
Directed by: Saffron Woolven
Technician and lighting design by: Ryan Jones Littler
Stage Manager: Sophie Kruegl
Choreography by: Luna Minxx
Produced by: Lockdown Projections
Whiplash plays at the Courtyard Theatre until the 17th August as part of the Camden Fringe. Further information and booking are available here.
ET interviewed Rachel Isobel Heritage about Whiplash, you can read it here.
