Review – Run Girl Run

We should talk about gender. Boys should talk about cars and footy, wear wife-beater singlets, and drink protein shakes and VB. And work out. Girls should talk about shoes and hair, wear make-up and high heels, and drink sparkling wine. And work out. Grit Theatre’s Run Girl Run is as much a suspenseful work-out for your gender-stereotyping mind as it is a torturous athletic work-out for the actors. Performer/creators Claire Phillips, Laura Hughes and Tom Browne deliver an interesting questioning of mainstream gender expectations and stereotypes in this treadmill thriller.

A slow, conversational opening eases you into a carefully considered exploration of mainstream gender expression. The three performers began on treadmills at low speed, comfortably assuring the audience that the casual everyday conversations were carefully building in intensity. The actors became more and more “masculine” – drinking what men drink and correcting each other when their discussion of certain topics weren’t manly enough – eventually crescendoing into a high speed, energetic sprint of aggressive sports coaching. It almost seemed like they would be running forever. The audience was right on the edge of their seats, watching the sweat and pain on the actors’ faces. Finally they stopped, composed themselves, and shed their manly accoutrements.

Bras, high-heels, treadmill on low. We knew what was coming, but this time they were all in heels. Heels. On treadmills. Pink dress, sparkling wine, make-up application sequence, tan, bangles. More. The escalating repetition of “woman’s” gruelling grooming routine was grotesque and hideous in the extreme. The torture of adhering to that stereotype! The torture of running in high-heels! Blonde hair in eyes, leaking mascara, tripping and almost falling to your death are only some of the harsh realities of performing in this piece. It genuinely looked like one (if not all) of the actors was going to pass out from exhaustion at any minute. How exciting and terrifying!

Get your running shoes on; a gripping, funny, original, suspenseful piece of theatre that should not be missed.