A techno remix of the wedding song, fluorescent pink lighting, two women (one in a wedding dress) tentatively approach each other. This isn’t bride seeing bride before the wedding, this is stepmother meets daughter.
Jitters, written by Ellen Robertson and performed alongside Charly Clive (aka the comedy duo Britney), is a mature examination of two women of the same age but vastly different backgrounds and identities. The bride-to-be, Charlotte, is earnest, firmly heterosexual with a tendency for verbal diarrhoea, while Elle is queer, sardonic, and cushioned by a private education.
Charlotte (Charly Clive) spends the hour reapplying her makeup, nervously chattering to an irritated Elle. Clive immediately wins over the audience as Charlotte, her invasive curiosity and vivaciousness making for excellent comedy against Elle’s stern silence. As the performance progresses, however, a layered character emerges; Charlotte is completely clear-sighted, motivated by financial survival and banking all chances of success on the wedding proceeding.
The audience watches the subtle negotiation of moral high ground that occurs behind Robertson’s witty dialogue. Initially, the scales tilt towards the recently bereaved Elle, whose new stepmother (and peer in age) is less than tactful, patronisingly complimenting her ‘cool’ haircut while insinuating Elle might fancy her (every queer person’s pet peeve). However, the tide quickly changes as Charlotte pulls the rug from under Elle’s feet, exposing her ‘wokeness’ as pure virtue signalling.
Jitters questions the empowerment that women gain from “having it all,” a good portion of which is glamourised unpaid labour. Charlotte has no time for a feminism that only benefits the bourgeois woman, as she reminds us, Emmeline Pankhurst had a comfortable terraced home to return to if all else fails. For Charlotte, tradition is expediency; the likeability of Elle’s 60-something father is irrelevant (skillfully Robertson leaves him estranged from the conversation).
The genius of Robertson’s writing lies in her ability to maintain each characters likability; the two are not involved in a kind of oppression Olympics, Elle is not just a wealthy snowflake nor is Charlotte a gold-digging ditz. Instead, the two respond to each other’s vulnerabilities in a way that is both tear-jerking and consistently funny. The outcome is a tender piece which ended, deservedly, in a standing ovation from the audience.
Jitters is running until 21 August at Old Lab, Summerhall. Buy tickets here.
Image by Joe Robertson, provided for press use.
