Hidden Agenda - Towards a gender politics of Arches Live!

Back in the 1990s, many academic articles had a subtitle that suggested that the argument that followed would not be complete. Titles like "Towards a Hermeneutics of Desire" were as opaque as they were tentative, jumbling the spirit of shared research and technical jargon as an apology for the subsequent dogmatic statements about the nature of reality. In this spirit, here's a brief survey of how one aspect of gender politics played out across Arches Live! Impossible as it is to see everything, the discussion is incomplete: given how contested this ground is, it is also probably offensive. However, from repeated mentions of Patti Smith through to the number of women presenting solo work, it is possible to consider the festival as a celebration of female artists. 

Both Ruth Cockshott's Portrait and Lucy Gaizely's Eggshells, Sweetheart? are solo shows that grapple with particular female experience: Eggshells looks at motherhood in a graphic and shocking style, while Cockshott reveals a teenage experience of rape. It is well worn ground, but establishes both performers as willing to take on the uncomfortable and confrontational. Gaizeley weaves her experience around comments on the status of motherhood - her introduction and finale celebration, while the main body explores social alienation and the child-centred mentality that can occupy a mother's life. Direct and polemical, these works have a rough-hewn energy that forgives the awkward and variable presentation. Elsewhere, Flora Pitrola charts her own growth as an artist, recalling her excitement at Sylvia Plath and Patti Smith, and setting herself clearly in a line of female performers who use autobiography to connect with larger concerns.

It is a cliche to characterise the feminine as personal and intimate, against the more exhibitionist masculine: however, all three performers take a route that avoids grand statements, for the most part. Patti Smith also turns up in Kieran Hurley's Hitch: her gig on his journey to the G8 encourages him to continue. Leaving aside Smith's iconic status - it is easy for her to make proclamations, having a big stage and all - it is interesting that Hurley should be enthused by a female artist on a potentially macho adventure into the heart of political activism.

Other works are less positive about the female. Post Show, a humorous deconstruction of theatre, falls down in its presentation of an actress as a mere cypher, a sexual bone for writer and director to squabble over and achieving little more than the tiniest act of self-determination. Interestingly, Post Show does go for big statements about truth and life, hinting that the closer a work gets to traditional theatre, the more likely the exclusion of the female voice. Nevertheless, the parodies of writing and directing stereotypes make this an enjoyable comedic excursion into familiar territory.

Chip, by Glas(s), redresses the balance. It pictures a mutually respectful father-daughter relationship. While it shares the universality of Post-Show, it is rooted in one specific family. If the more theatrical nature of Post-Show allows it to become outrageous and explicit, Chip unravels the connections between father and daughter with a sensitive and - again - intimate charm. Possibly because of preconceived notions of the feminine, Arches Live! seems to offer female performance that is intensely personal and looks at broad concerns from a defiantly individual perspective. Perhaps the dialogue is ongoing, despite media claims that feminist debate has now been resolved.