More Female Parts

Evelyn Krape is an astoundingly fit, energetic and generous performer with impeccable comic timing.  More Female Parts offers a wonderful opportunity to watch a real tour de force performer, who is well over sixty, wow an audience.

Female Parts by Dario Fo and Franca Rame, as performed by Evelyn Krape from 1982, was one of those amazing works of theatre that was highly regarded in its era. is comprised of three stories of, and perhaps for, women in their sixties.   

In the first component we hear a Grandmother’s story, with her less than perfect short-term memory, her battles to satisfy Centrelink and precarious grandchildren minding skills and frustration at not being able to find her keys.  Krape does not disappoint; she exudes energy and humor and her characterization and the way she conveys descriptive passages as events is fabulous. She is continually moving, always in the moment and reaching out to her audience.

The set change between the first and second stories is surprisingly slow and tawdry and therefore not a great segue into the second scenario.

The second narrative is rather thin and long-winded when compared to the first and third.  I hazard to say it is over-written.  It is a futuristic piece where the protagonist is apartment bound and isolated, dependent on robotic (electronic audio) companions and at the beck and call of her husband who is perhaps her captor. There is humor, particularly some great slapstick physical humor at the commencement of the piece. And there is a point being made, possibly a number of points, thought a little hazily.  However some careful editing and tightening up could vastly improve the way it is received.

After interval comes the real treat of the show, a fabulous fairytale where the gnome-like male has his day and the heroine, unable to adequately make her mark in the male dominated world of business, still manages to avoid the single sister’s dodgy fate of taking care of the aging parent.  Somehow, very luckily, through her unassuming brother’s financial acumen she is able to run a business and become her own CEO.  This narrative is delivered with great aplomb and much style.  Krape is dressed by Rainbow Sweeny, who has created a fun dress and wacky beret that smack of the 1920s, for this quaint storyteller. Sweeny’s accommodating set is lit to look like a pink and green ice-cream cake through lights by lighting designer Emma Valente.  So on a high note the evening ends delightfully.

Particularly recommended for VCE students, most particularly for its beautifully integrated transformation of character and place and Krape’s superb physical theatre skills.  

Specially recommended for women over 60 and anyone who is looking for a great nights entertainment, while this work would surely be very popular with regional audiences. 

Suzanne Sandow

Set & Costume Design by Rainbow Sweeny

Lighting Design by Emma Valente

Production & Stage Manager – Meg Richardson

Project Manager – Evelyn Krape

Performed by Evelyn Krape