Two women sit side by side on stage. One is draped in a long white nightgown. The other, visibly younger, is cloaked in an emerald green corseted gown. The audience soon learns that the older woman, Mary, has just awoken in fright from a nightmare and is being gently consoled by Rhoda, who tenderly strokes her hair. The two women appear to be mother and daughter. Then, suddenly, they embrace and begin to kiss. thereby dissolving the audience’s preconceptions about their relationship and making way for a complex and riveting story that proves to be much bigger than the two lovers.
Age of Arousal, produced by U of T’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, is set in London, 1885. It is a time when women are beginning to toy with the idea of independence and suffrage, much to the dismay of not only men, but also conservatively-minded housewives who are comfortable in their roles as homemakers. Mary Barefoot (Kate Lynch, who co-directed the play with David Jensen) and her lover Rhoda Nunn (Briar Knowles) run a secretarial school that teaches shorthand typing and financial skills to women, in an effort to help them find work and become self-sufficient. When Mary’s cousin, Dr. Everard Barefoot (Matthew Lawrence) comes to town, and Rhoda invites her three impoverished friends — sisters Virginia, Alice, and Monica — to study at the secretarial school, things start to get a little messy.
Lynch’s performance as Mary is vibrant and dynamic. She keeps the audience hanging onto her every word, believing in her struggle, and rooting for her cause. Sally Nakazi also gives a seductive performance as Monica, who struggles to suppress her sexual feelings for Everard, while exuding a composed, feminine demeanour. Yet the charming and debonair Everard has caught the eye of Rhoda as well, and this new and powerful attraction to a man forces Rhoda to question her relationship with Mary. Through a series of “thought-speak” monologues, the audience learns that while Everard has not refrained from the odd sexual encounter with Monica, he is keen to return Rhoda’s affections.
Throughout this tangled love affair, Mary struggles to reform spinsters Virginia and Alice, urging them to embrace feminist values and relinquish their self-deprecating attitudes. While this part of the play’s narrative is compelling in its own right, it is the moment when Rhoda must choose between her aching passion for Everard and her relationship with Mary that will have audience members holding their breath in anticipation.
Age of Arousal is sexually charged and hilariously crude, but this never detracts from the play’s riveting portrayal of five women who are quite literally trying to change the world. The production is rich and powerful, with a vibrant cast that breathes life into a complex tale of equality and individuality.
Age of Arousal runs Tuesday through Saturday until March 16.
