Review: Ugly Sisters (Underbelly)

A grateful encounter turned ugly

There is a show about a celebrity turned radical feminist transphobe that has been grabbing headlines since well before the festival started, and it isn’t this one. With a title like TERF and a target like J.K. Rowling it was always going to attract attention and ire, and as far as the tabloids were concerned Untapped Award-winning piss / CARNATION’s show was, well, an ugly sister. But up in an attic in Underbelly is where the real radical work is happening. Following their brilliant 52 Monologues for Young Transexuals last year, Ugly Sisters retells the story of when renowned feminist Germaine Greer was greeted by a trans woman who said “Thank you so much for all you've done for us girls”. Nineteen years later, she published an article titled “On Why Sex Change is a Lie”, and completely changed the direction of her career, and perhaps feminism.

Photo Credit: Clemence Rebourg

The encounter is recreated, the article quotes, and the two re-meet each other in different scenarios – at a debate, after sex, through the words of RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants. Theatre makers Charli Cowgill and Laurie Ward swap each role between them as though it is too painful to play a transphobe or a victim of one for too long. There is hurt, and anger, but all the while there is still a deep-seeded admiration for Greer that prompted the gratitude in the first place. What is underlined is that trans women have never been against feminism, no matter what some papers, public figures, or politicians would have you believe. Trans women were betrayed by feminism, and have had their existence weaponised ever since. In every reimagined encounter a “debate” that rages through the media is made intimate and sensitive but no less powerful.

The range of emotions is impressive, and Cowgill and Ward perform with energy, humour, and tenderness. But still, it feels as though the idea runs aground. They are completely undaunted in their dramaturgy, so every minute is captivating in one way or another, but they do not build on their ideas scene-by-scene and it can feel repetitive. But then again, this show was never going to offer a resolution or hold your hand. It’s not a snarky comeback, it’s a conversation. Ugly Sisters is like rolling around in bed reimagining a conversation over and over again. It has a transgressive, dream-like quality, and taken together it may be disjointed and too singular in its vision, but it has true Fringe spirit. Three stars.