By: R. L. Nesvet
At: Babes with Blades at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark
Phone: 773-348-8160; $18
Through April 15
BY SCOTT C. MORGAN
You've got to admire the pluck of Babes with Blades. Like pioneers forging their own frontier, this women-based stage combat troupe creates new theater when existing plays fail to meet its needs.
So it's disappointing to report that Babes with Blades' world premiere of R.L. Nesvet's The Girl in the Iron Mask is a storytelling muddle. It also turns unintentionally campy at moments when you should be riveted.
There are noble intentions behind this feminist revision of Alexandre Dumas' swashbuckling 1848 novel The Man in the Iron Mask. Instead of the plot hinging on identical twin brothers ( one of whom would grow up as King Louis XIV of France ) , Nesvet makes the twins fraternal and one child female.
The gender dynamics of the time and misogyny of French royal succession are rightly taken to task in Nesvet's 'what-if' scenario. Nesvet's dreamed-up secret societies of strong fighting women out to change the status quo are also fun, if very hard to swallow.
What hampers The Girl in the Iron Mask is Nesvet and director Kevin Heckman's inability to make plotting points clear or characters easily distinguishable. There is also little consistency in the tone, which runs the gamut from heart-wrenching drama to eye-winking camp.
For example, a pantomimed fight sequence in the first act does a very poor job of establishing a back story explaining political allegiances ( unless you're familiar with the source material ) . And the hint of a budding lesbian romance between the wronged royal daughter Louise ( Alison Dornheggen, also doubling as Louis XIV ) and young fighter Juliette ( Gillian N. Humiston ) is so downplayed that it feels tacked on when revealed.
At the very least, the all-woman acting ensemble looks like it's having a grand old time. Instead of being prettified costume dressing shrinking in the background, these women clearly relish getting to do all kinds of fancy fencing work.
Oh, that all the acting could rise to the performance level of Dawn 'Sam' Alden's. She instills a genuine stage presence and characterization to her role as religious fighter Artemis. As Louis/Louise, Dornheggen has fun playing up Louis' male haughtiness, but she doesn't fully delve behind Louise's childhood pain and determination to instill herself on the throne.
In terms of feminist escapism, The Girl in the Iron Mask is fun. But maybe it's my own male chauvinism preventing me from fully accepting the play.
I was not the only one breaking out in laughter when I saw Alden first rush on with swords ablaze to defend the life of the female infant dauphin. But then again, how many nuns ( in full habit, I should add ) do you know who can brandish a sword?