What happens if you place a woman on a male-dominated AFL field, and in doing so, redefine what it means to be a woman? That’s precisely the scenario which sparked playwright Jane e Thompson’s concept for FIERCE. In a society where female strength is ignored or undervalued, women are represented in a a few characters. Thompson has therefore responded to a gap in female representation; not in conveying an idealised or perfect female image, but rather in portraying a flawed, complex and unrelentingly determined character.
Leaving a play uncomfortable and dismayed, Thompson was inspired to produce a story that completely overturned conventions of female representation. Disappointed to once again see a woman portrayed as a victimised survivor, Thompson described how she “wanted to write a play that wasn’t about a woman being a victim or survivor of assault, but to place her in a completely different scenario”. Turning the narrative of a female victimhood on its head, it was the very fictive concept of a woman playing alongside male AFL players that appealed to Thompson’s reimagined scenario. It is in this semi-surrealism that Thompson delves into ideas about gender identity and the complex ways in which it is internalised; a complexity that Thompson recognises is regrettably lacking in theatre productions of classical canon works in particular.
“I think female protagonists with agency are lacking in some of the older classical works we do in theatre, and the women struggle in what is definitely a male-dominated world,” Thompson described. “That is not to say that my protagonist does not struggle, but rather that I wanted to challenge the idea that women will never be as strong or as physically powerful as men.”
The physicality of AFL helped Thompson construct her rebellious narrative. Thompson cleverly uses the movements of the game of AFL to explore discourses of boundaries which the female protagonist, Suzie Flack, must navigate. While Flack could play the avoidance game which her male teammates desire, Thompson notes how Flack incessantly pursues the physical game in a bold “pushback”.
However, Flack’s incessant pushback also reveals a protective guard which severely prohibits her emotional engagement. Thompson described how through exploring a female character who often felt required to adopt dominant male characteristics of emotional negation, she could simultaneously question the consequences of toxic masculinity. Flack is seen to jeopardise potential friendships and romantic relationships in her journey to the AFL league, leading Thompson to question what a lack of emotional connection does to an individual? Posing this query, FIERCE questions why weakness is perceived as a feminine trait.
Sport also provides an arena for Thompson to engage with notions of an Australian national identity. The drama of sport with its strict rules and final winning goal provided Thompson with a contrast to the open-endedness of theatre. As Thompson noted, “People wouldn’t normally think sport and theatre go together”, however, Thompson hopes that this merging of often disparate cultures means that the production’s audience scope is widened. As a lover of the game herself, Thompson’s incorporation of AFL colloquialisms was a natural part of her writing process and something which “she couldn’t think about writing any other way”. However, this distinctly familiar Australian identity offers a promising discourse for a wide audience to engage in FIERCE’s empowering and intimate engagement with gender complexities.
Fierce runs until April 13. Find out more here: https://www.redlineproductions.com.au/fierce.