Written by New Zealand playwright Joan Betts as a tongue-in-cheek, feminist, “somewhat revised” version of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, Female Company’s Revenge of the Amazons – directed by Marisa Breytenbach and Haemia Foote – is a side-splitting success.

Chosen by the Company for its strong female roles, Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons (a fearsome, women-led race) replaces Theseus’ fiancée of the original text, and the all-male acting troupe becomes the Fallopian Thespians, a six strong, artistic “cooperative” group, each member with a varying degree of misandry.

For a production that ultimately has the audience in tears of laughter, it is a shame that the opening scene with Amie Bentall as Hippolyta and Daniel Tomlin as Theseus is so weak. While Tomlin is endearing as the hen pecked, bookworm of a Duke, there is nothing Amazonian, warrior-like or queenly about Bentall; even her costume is bordering on homely. For the first ten minutes it feels a bit like watching talking heads, until the entrance of the incredible Chanel Turner as Helena.

It may be that it is worth the ticket price just to see Turner’s unique interpretation of exuberantly miserable Helena, desperately in love with Demetrius (Beren Allen), who is, unfortunately, lovesick for Hermia. Turner has the audience in hysterics with her teenage style asides and facial expressions, but also treats Shakespeare’s original text with tender authenticity. Because of that, while she is the most over-the-top of all the characters, she also has the most believable and poignant moments in the show. 

The few men there are in this cast support the females well. Lysander (Jake Love) is very sweet opposite Rachael Longshaw-Park’s pouty Hermia, and I have never seen anyone throw rose petals as petulantly as Jason Conran (Hermia’s father, Egeus).

The stand out male role would have to be Gorjan Markovski as Oberon; he is truly fairy like: lustful, slightly camp and delightfully small in relation to both fairy Queen Titania and Fallopian Thespian Barbara (Lucy Smith), whom Puck bewitches into a Playboy Bunny outfit (the play’s alternative to Bottom ).  

Although the fairies have some great comic scenes, it is refreshing to see the eerie, punk rock design for costume and make up nod to the more traditional view of fairies as dangerous beings.

Queen Titania is more Lady Macbeth than Glinda the Good Witch, as Lizzie Bearne plays her with an imposing stare and movements that are deliberate but few, making her Shakespearean lines absolutely captivating. Similarly, Aimee Olivia’s female Puck is dark and sexy – although her laughter feels a little forced at times. 

It should be mentioned that the venue for this play is the Baptist Church in Ponsonby. Not having been built for theatre, it noticeably has its challenges, mainly in terms of lighting and acoustics (and if you are not a regular church goer, please note: pews).  I did enjoy the venue for the extra dimension it gives the scene where Helena and Hermia attempt to explain the (all male) Holy Trinity of Christianity to a bemused Hippolyta.

A word of warning: you might need to bring earplugs for several of the scenes with the Fallopian Thespians. While the “play within a play” in the second act is meant to be building to the climax, and yes, there is a lot of feminist anguish during rehearsals, the echoing in the church works against them and important lines are lost in the uproar.

For a fun evening out, some seriously delicious cupcakes ($2.50 by an incredibly talented cake artist) and a good, solid laugh, Revenge of the Amazons is great show to see. The stronger members of the cast more than make up for the weaker ones, and Chanel Turner’s Helena is not to be missed.  

If you have any bras you no longer wear, bring them along too, as you can donate them along with the bras from the set to the Auckland City Mission.

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