We all know the story of Genesis. Adam and Eve living happily in the garden of Eden: Eve is persuaded by Satan to eat the forbidden fruit, dooming mankind to a lifetime of pain and suffering, and subjecting women to the toil of childbirth. But what if the what if the roles were reversed? That’s what was explored in this camp comedy reimagining of the book of Genesis by Little Darlings Comedy Collective.
The play follows a woman struggling with the trials and tribulations of everyday life being a woman living in New York City. Her solution (obviously) is to find a time machine and travel back to the day it all began, hoping to restructure the world and save it from the patriarchy. This witty show grapples with some hard topics in a way that cuts through the narrative while still finding a way to remain funny throughout. While the jokes make you cringe at points, writer Genevieve Goodman finds a way to make the protagonist lovable and infuriating all at once—showing the perfect imperfection of humanity that is praised in the bible.
My favourite story arc has to be that of God and Lucifer’s. A homoerotic love story that never was to be, making you double over with laughter. God, played by Simon Rabatin, has to be the funniest character, bringing the hilarity of Jeff Goldblum with an intensity needed to play a sexually frustrated and mischievous all powerful being. “Oh my me” will be added to my vocabulary (go and see the show to understand).
I left the theatre feeling more grateful for the world we live in, despite all its flaws. Goodman suggests that even if the roles were reversed, some things still wouldn’t change, and proposes that the changes wouldn’t necessarily ‘fix’ the world. If it was the other way around, would that just create an oppressive matriarchal society instead? Repeating the idea that good needs evil to strive, Goodman shows us how society is moving in the right direction.
Eve and Adam is running until 29 August at Surgeons Hall, Haldane Theatre. Buy tickets here.
Image Credits: Genevieve Goodman
