During the second national tour of Barely Visible, a physical solo show that brings light to common issues lesbians face, I have had many meaningful interactions with audiences who have viewed the work, and I have also received an abundance of anonymous comments, from mixed sex / gender audiences, via post-show surveys on their experience of the live performance. I have touched upon the impact of those interactions in previous publications via Diva Magazine, and Metal Culture UK, as well as stating how the lack of lesbian visibility on stage had a negative effect on me as a teenage dancer. However, in this post, I want to speak specifically to my experience of touring Barely Visible to attest how authentic representation of the lesbian experience on stage has positively impacted audiences.
Representation means to act or speak on behalf of someone else, and as already outlined above, I utilise each performance of Barely Visible, to not only speak for myself, and the women I have researched, but for the many lesbians I have shared space and conversation with over the years. In doing so, I show an authentic representation of the lesbian experience on stage that does not strive to ‘fit in’, ‘be good’ and ‘well behaved’ as some work does. Instead, I am honest, and in that honesty, I have been able to call out inaccurate, harmful, and false representation of lesbianism and how lesbians are continually commodified, sexualised, and objectified in society, film, tv, and popular music. It is these well-researched observations and lived experiences that are causing such impact regarding how viewers reflect on lesbianism so heavily.
Many gay women have commented on feeling seen, validated, and relieved to have seen such a hard hitting visual and aural experience of something they have been told to “get over” and “stop being so sensitive about”. The aforementioned audience comments refer to my unapologetic exposure of questions I have been asked because I am a gay woman and how, as the show develops, I fight back to silence them. One woman felt empowered by my action to challenge questions that I have been asked, questions like “which one is the man” and “how do you know you’re a lesbian if you haven’t had sex with a man”, stating “your performance has made me think about how I’m going to handle situations like this in the future and I will be calling them out!”
Another audience member who had not experienced this type of invasive questioning said “it made me consider more about the societal pressures and views people have about lesbians and preconceptions about them. As these are not thoughts I’ve had, I hadn’t considered how narrow minded and inappropriate people can be.” Still relative to the inappropriate questions is another audience member, a heterosexual male who, during a post-show conversation, bravely declared he had treated lesbians in inappropriate ways and that the show made him realise the damage of his words.
Amongst the comments above, there has been expression of joy, community, solidarity and thought provocation for many. As the maker and performer within the work, it is a joy to feel this ‘coming together’. I am listening to the young performers who are confessing desire to make lesbian work, and how because they have had no work to use as a jumping of point, i.e., no physical work, they haven’t taken the leap to make the work yet. I am gratefully receiving their thanks for my explicit, uncensored and powerful sharing of my own work and how Barely Visible now stands as that jumping off point for them.
The comments above confirm that when you see a character on stage, who reminds you a little bit of yourself, it sends a message to a person that it is ok to exist fully and authentically as oneself. Through touring this show, I am also encouraged to be more myself and I am motivated to make further work that explores the dynamics, tensions, dysfunctions, joys, liberation, and satisfaction of lesbianism in more depth in future. And, whilst there will be an intense focus on lesbian sexuality, I will not be taking a separatist approach to developing audiences, and only making work that lesbians will “get”. Instead, I want the representation to echo the words in this post, reaching wider audiences — those who enjoy watching dance and theatre, those who enjoy learning about the experiences of others, and to those who will enjoy the provocative thinking they are bound to experience after watching the work I make and perform.
Barely Visible is still touring, so get your tickets below.
6th April 2023 at Unity Theatre
14th April 2023 at Shakespeare North Playhouse
With more dates to be added in June, July and October.
Rowena x