Forget the Isle of Man – the Isle of Woman, complete with a naturist-loving hippy as queen, has been created.
Friday night at the Gaiety Theatre saw a vocal (predominantly female) audience vote on what the perfect island should include and what should be banned, led by three women and a piano.
London Mayor Boris Johnson was quickly dispensed with.
A life-size cardboard cut-out went in the dustbin headfirst, his feet poking out from the corner of the stage.
High heels, clingy evening dress, gossip magazines and text speak were also quickly dispatched.
The audience did vote for some island essentials though, including friends (a no-brainer, surely).
Each of the performers on stage represented a very different kind of woman.
Actress Nicole Faraday (who had her break playing Snowball Merriman in Bad Girls) embraced her role as the ‘hippy non-conformist’, appearing on stage in everything from a giraffe onesie to a tassled top emblazoned with ‘lovesick cowgirl’.
Katherine Mount was a dungaree-wearing, ball-breaking ‘feminist’, singing about how women are fearful of showing emotion at work.
And Amanda Posener (appeared alongside Nicole in Bad Girls the musical as Denny) took on the role of the ‘traditionalist’.
She painted a vivid picture of the struggle women can face in their battle to maintain the image of the perfect wife, family and home.
Accompanying them on the piano was the show’s producer, Teresa Barlow, who almost ended up being crowned queen of the Isle of Woman herself, such was the audience’s appreciation.
The aim of the musical show – which has been touring theatres around the British Isles – was to celebrate womanhood and the audience can have been left in no doubt that was its intention.
I was an enthusiastic audience member, whooping wholeheartedly at each of the audience votes.
And leaving the theatre, I was keen to get home to dig out my Bad Girls box set and arrange a long overdue catch up with some of my best friends. It was just a shame the Gaiety wasn’t filled to the rafters to lift the atmosphere of the undoubtedly feel-good show.