THE REGINA MONOLOGUES Nottingham Lace Market Theatre

THE REGINA MONOLOGUES
Nottingham Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 30 November

Set in the intimate setting of the upstairs section of the Lace Market Theatre you'll find a very different play this week, The Regina Monologues, not to be mistaken for the similar sounding play by Eve Ensler, although there are similarities.

Written by  Rebecca Russell and Jenny Wafer and directed by Dan Maddison this is one thought provoking, funny, sad, emotive play that packs an awful lot in just 75 minutes.

Six wives recount their feelings and what they are going through being married to Henry using the comparison to their Tudor counterpart. Mix in modern situations such as arranged marriages, online dating, adultery, step children, miscarriages, gender reassignment, underage sex, possible suicide among other things, you'd expect this to a bit of a depressing affair but far from it as, even though there are parts that will make you angry and sad inside, there's a great deal of comedy as well. The same successful recipe used in Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues".

There's the poignancy of the unforgivable situation that the teenage schoolgirl character is placed in and there's the great comedy monologues of the gender reassigned online dating woman who's not picky about her partners to the gold digger and the woman who's wronged by her man when he looks for a younger model.

I love theatre that entertains me and I can sit back and not think too deeply and I also like the other end of the theatrical market which really gives you something to think about and occasionally shocks, and this week both ends of the scale have been covered nicely. Needless to say this play is suitable for the over 14s due to some of the ripe language, which is part and parcel of the subject matter related by the six ladies in this all female play.

Only one word of warning though, if your ginger of hair and easily offended by "gingist" comments, think twice because there seems to be a theme with the six woman not being in favour of red heads. I wonder if Henry VIII was a redhead?

www.lacemarkettheatre.co.uk