Iron Maidens: Iron Fantasy at Soho Theatre
Two women chase the elusive six-pack in Iron Fantasy, only to embark on an unexpected journey exploring what it truly means to be strong in today’s world. In a culture that demands visible strength and power, they subject themselves to lifting, protein powder-guzzling, and raw-egg drinking. Interestingly, consuming raw eggs elicited many squeamish reactions from members of the audience. None has obviously been to Cabaret to see Sally Bowles guzzle prairie oysters. But in the search for the attributes that make someone strong, a little more is revealed about being a young woman in the modern world. And that strength comes from a number of ways. It’s currently playing at the Soho Theatre.
It’s part performance, part musical, and part interviews, as writer-performers Shamira Turner and Eugénie Pastor, who make up the theatre performance duo She Goat, don a variety of silly costumes and play a range of musical instruments on their journey researching strength, fighting, and pumping iron.
This theatre project begins with them being granted a rare grant to fund their endeavours, and they interview young and old about what it means to be strong. Armed with their nonsensical responses (it’s difficult to discern how mature the respondents were), they form the opening part of the show, where they are supported and entwined in their own bodies. Soon, they are doing sit-ups, jumping jacks, and squats in a variety of fitness-style poses while searching for a six-pack.
They may dream of being the next Zena Warrior Princess, using armour fashioned from ordinary kitchen objects. But dealing with elderly parents, falling pregnant, and the need to find a job when the money runs out keeps bringing them back to reality. But towards the end of the piece, the real motivations behind the search for strength come to the fore. While it stops the show cold, the honesty is admirable. And I found myself recalling how friends and acquaintances in the aftermath of the murder of Sarah Everard in Clapham by a serving Met Police officer shared similar stories. Stories that may have been originally told as an amusing anecdote about persistent men glossed over the darker elements of abuse, power plays, and strength. And five years on from Sarah Everard's murder, it feels depressingly still relevant.
This is a potent subject, but the production would benefit from simpler staging. The frequent changes among musical instruments, costumes, and setup times sometimes distract from the show's story.
Written and performed by She Goat (Shamira Turner and Eugénie Pastor), Iron Fantasy, a reflection on strength in the modern world, is at Soho Theatre until 21 March.
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Photos by James Allan
