Locker Room Talk, the provocative piece of event theatre conceived as a response to the sexually aggressive comments made by then Presidential candidate Donald Trump, is being taken straight to Scottish politicians in the Scottish Parliament by the Traverse Theatre this November.
Created and written by award-winning playwright and Traverse Associate Artist Gary McNair, and directed by Traverse Artistic Director Orla O’Loughlin, Locker Room Talk, brings together hundreds of hours of interview material with real men, interviewed in male-dominated spaces, speaking about women. These words are then performed verbatim by a cast of four women, Maureen Carr, Rachael Spence and Joanna Tope who will be joined by renowned actress and former star of Taggart, Blythe Duff for this one- off performance.
The piece aims to ‘call out’ both the everyday and systematic sexual aggression and abuse of masculine power towards women, both physical and verbal, across all industries and levels of society. Unfortunately, its relevance and urgency has become only more apparent in the light of the ongoing exposure of the endemic bullying and sexually predatory behaviour that is very much in the news today.
A vital part of each performance is a post-show conversation, giving the audience opportunity to participate, ask questions, examine the issues raised and confront the crisis of gender, masculinity and extreme masculinity from Hollywood to Holyrood and ask where we go from here.
Deputy Convenor of the Justice Committee SNP MSP Rona Mackay, says, “I am delighted to be able to host Locker Room Talk, and the Traverse Theatre, in the Scottish Parliament. The magnitude of sexual harassment, assault, abuse, rape and derogatory behaviour towards women has recently been highlighted, following the prominent #MeToo hashtag, and what is being spoken about more and more is the inequality and injustice that it is rooted in.
Through various actions the Scottish Government are taking, they are sending out a strong message that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated in Scotland. But, what is clear, from the past few weeks in particular, is that we must challenge the attitudes that lead to harassment, abuse, violence and bullying – and that is what Locker Room Talk does.”
Locker Room Talk played as a Work in Progress in the Traverse in February; at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin with an Irish cast in May and at the Latitude Festival in July, before returning to the Traverse for a three- performance event on Monday 21 August
This invitation only performance at Holyrood will mark its first performance in front of an amassed collection of political bodies and decision-makers, giving everyone present the opportunity to discuss how we tackle this alarmingly common issue in practical terms.
Read the Locker Room Talk review
By Invite Only - Thursday 9 November, 5:30pm (1hr 15, including post-show discussion)