Witty, ironic, yet painfully real, the Los Angeles Theatre Initiative’s The C Word debuted the fringe in radical style. Set outside an office in an art gallery, five very different women await their turn to interview for the prestigious position of Assistant Curator. Drawing on the experiences of women confined in both the professional field and art history itself, The C-Word uniquely portrays prejudices preventing women succeeding at the top.
Each woman represents a very clear archetype: Pearl – quiet and beautiful, valued more for her appearance than her words. Olly – loud and abrasive; whose unbridled cynicism makes sense as we learn she has had to “suck the boss’ dick” to get the interview. Venus’ parents are important donors to the gallery, ensuring her inclusion despite her gender. Mona is an archetypal ‘mad woman’, embittered at the injustices of her subordination. Georgie, the final candidate, a long-time museum worker, tries hard to be a feminist and ‘girl boss’, but finds herself drowned out and pushed down constantly by the chauvinist culture.
On learning the current interviewee is a man, the despairing women prepare to abandon hope. However, when in a curious twist the Picasso on the wall becomes alive, it forces them to stand up not just to the challenge of the interview, but to each other, exposing internalised misogyny and insecurities. They begin to see the perception of women in the art world as equivalent to fruits in a still life; valued decoratively and aesthetically, but never as great.
This journey leads to Georgie’s face off with the painfully recognisable male candidate Chad, whose self-assurance, arrogance and charisma (read- C-word!) are in turn insufferable and insurmountable. He patronises Georgie’s intelligence, and attempts to seduce her in a crude and inappropriate gesture of his perceived male power.
Thought-provoking, funny, and so relevant it hurts, The C Word adroitly paints a fictional portrait of a very real reality. One that must be acknowledged in art – and society – as reflective of contemporary gender issues everywhere.
Image provided to The Student for press use.