Well Behaved Women, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sept 28-Nov 3

 Based on Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's quote "Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History", this song cycle by Perth Born, New York Based compose Carmel Deane features four performers telling the stories of 16 women over the course of 15 songs plus a cycle-capping song at the end. From Eve to Malala via Grace Tame, Hariet Tubman and others, it's a simply-staged production, with a 4 piece band scattered around Grace Deacon's black levelled set, aided by Susie Henderson's Video design. There's power in some of these moments (getting to see Ursula Yovich sing Boudicca's song is a powerful experience, as is Zahra Newman's introductory tempting Eve or Stephani Caccamo's Mary Magdelene complaining about being the only girl in the picture). From a quick check, it appears the show's had a localising rewrite since its original run, with Elanor Roosevelt, the first 4 female Supreme Court Justices and Lady Liberty replaced by Julia Gillard, Grace Tame and Cathy Freeman, and it does feel like we've traded up at our end. 

The challenge of a song cycle is that with every song you reset, and the show's fortunate to have the four fine actresses it has who provide a solid reset for each number, keeping it engaging (the fourth actress at my performance was standby Sarah Murr) - still, it's difficult not to compare and one or two pieces don't really seem to fit the requirement for significant women of history (the Billie Jean King number, concentrating on the 70's Battle of the Sexes match, feels like it's indulging in one of the minor sideshows of history rather than something eseential) - while the Fanny Durack/Mina Wylie song illuminates a bit of almost-forgotten history that richly rewards the examination. The performers sing with compassion, strength, power and intelligence, engaging the audience completely in these stories, and Blazey Best stages it well, using the variuos areas of the stage to get the performers up close and personal. 

While it can feel a little like preaching to the converted, I'd prefer to call it a gentle reminder of where we've come from and a chance for skilled performers to get to engage with powerful women in a strong set of songs.