proposal
by Kiki Kendrick, co-written with Julie Balloo
Maslow dictated that a girl needed love, shelter and food to build her confidence and reinforce her self-esteem. Today, what seems like the basic requisites of a woman has changed. We no longer depend on these natural requirements, we depend on the very un-natural; anti-aging creams, botox and tummy tucks.
Sod the campaigns and make-overs that tell us to firm-up our skin, slim down by following the celebrity scheming diet, wear a ridiculous dress, be pregnant but don't dare be fat or god forbid grow older. Is it to keep women spending money or to keep women down? Either way it takes away their strength.
A kind of Harvey Nicks, provides the perfect backdrop for this unexpected, frank and witty comedy; a modern customer fuelled politically incorrect 'Are You Being Served'. Babooshka is a straight forward, laughter enducing, self-deprecating look at what we really see in the mirror. A one hour and 20 minute play with a message:
"Why sacrifice your life for a pipe dream?"
BABOOSHKA has a prod at our obsession with nothing and provokes the thought... maybe we could actually be something if we didn't waste our lives at war with ourselves? The department store is a microcosm of life; shopping is the new religion. Anyone of any age, size, race or sex can relate to BABOOSHKA.
Like the Russian doll 'Babooshka', five women peel away the layers to reveal more than you might expect. A chance encounter in a department store changing room provides the backdrop for this unexpected, frank and witty play. As the women unselfconsciously admire and criticise their mirror images we find out what a celebrity obsessed teenager, a shopaholic career gal, a disillusioned mother with cellulite, a 40 year old trapped in a bad relationship and a mature, been there, done that, Goddess at 50, have in common - apart from a vagina and the requisite chromosome. We follow the newly acquired relationships as they build, bust, and fuse together.
The women are all called Anna, all dating, marrying, married to, divorcing and learning to live without a man called Rickie, Richard, Rick, Dick and Rich and each Anna's life leads neatly into the next; Shop assistant, Anna 1 gets on her media course, ad girl Anna 2 finds out she's pregnant, after the baby Anna 3's body has gone to pot, after the boob job Anna 4 is looking for a younger man, toy boy Jamie does the trick for Anna 5, who has finally learned to love herself; which strongly suggests that the 5 women could in fact be five stages of 1 woman's life.
As each woman looks in the mirror (the 4th wall) she vocalizes her thoughts and the remaining 4 women demonstrate her 'fantasy world' to music behind her (like the backing girls of a pop group). In these stylised movement pieces the women mime the words to the songs perfectly. When the music stops they all snap back to reality and the backing girls disappear into their cubicles.
An extremely thin mannequin with an affected LA accent (through a shop tannoy) represents the voice of the media - projecting messages throughout the play, which sends the girls into a 'Stepford Wives' type trance, as the voice enters their heads and takes over.
ANNA 1: The celebrity obsessed teenage shop assistant whose bible is Heat magazine, sees being on Big Brother as a good career move, 'I want to be really really famous for being really really famous, step out of limousines, bring out my own celebrity perfume and have my own stalker.' ANNA 1 is Posh's younger sister.
ANNA 2: A posh, confident, weight obsessed, career girl and shopaholic in her late 20's. Surrey's answer to Eva Longoria if only she had the money; 'If I want a quick vanity boost, I gaze at my reflection in a funfair mirror I can go from fat to thin in under a minute and all for 50p.'
ANNA 3: A compulsive window shopper and disillusioned mother with cellulite and post baby body, advises; 'Book an early caesarean that way the weight will simply drop off in no time and people will assume you must be the gorgeous au pair rather than the frazzled fat mother.' ANNA 3 is a 32 year old Victoria Wood.
ANNA 4: A gritty northerner, recently separated 40 year old convinced that cosmetic surgery is the only way to survive; 'Once upon a time you cut the suit to fit the body, now you cut the Body to fit the suit.' ANNA 4 is a modern day Elsie Tanner.
ANNA 5: A mature, sexy, been there done that 50 year old widow, happy with herself and her body. She satirically asks; 'Did Emily Wilding wonder if she was wearing the right shoes before hurling herself beneath the Kings horses?' ANNA 5 is Helen Mirren in Calender Girls.
Anna 1 tries on dresses and becomes the celebrity she idolises, Anna 2 is looking for a dress that shrieks winner, she's been nominated for an award, Anna 3 is going to a wedding, she looking for something that will make husband notice her again, Anna 4 is looking for a dress for her 40th, that says 'survivor' and Anna 5 is off to Africa and looking for something for the leaving party. A sample dress gets them all talking, interacting, then fighting, until the goddess steps in and makes the best dress of all, from nothing. The others follow and for a moment listen to Anna 5 and become strong, like female icons; Florence Nightingale, Boudica, Britannia, the red curtains wrap around their bodies like robes, but only for a moment, before the mannequin takes over, breaks up the tableau and enters their heads once again.
Liberated Theatre took BABOOSHKA to Edinburgh Festival in 2003 and the show completely sold out (even previews) at The Pleasance Theatre extra shows were provided for the disappointed ones who couldn't get a ticket. BABOOSHKA was on everybody's lips as well as the 'sold out' board. It was 'The' play to see. So desperate were people for a seat, that one day somebody actually tried to fight her way into the theatre!
Such enthusiasm prompted Liberated Theatre to gather 'audience reviews' and a star rating out of 5 see http://www.liberatedtheatre.com/page.php?pageID=Babooshka_reviews and http://www.liberatedtheatre.com/page.php?pageID=Babooshka_New_Zealand_reviews
Babooshka has since gone on to sell out twice at The Playhouse Theatre, Timaru in New Zealand with the The South Canterbury Drama League.
Creator Kiki Kendrick has written BABOOSHKA with Julie Balloo, long-time collaborator of Jenny Éclair. BABOOSHKA is a comedy that points the finger at the media and the fashion industry for eating away at women's self esteem. Interestingly enough a lot of journalists boycotted the show saying it 'attached journalists' is it that they have a guilty conscience?
"With this slow but sure erosion of women's confidence, it was important to write a play that will inspire women, particularly the next generation of women to become more in touch with their true inner-selves. It's an eye-opener for men too! They can enter the mystery of the changing room in the safe knowledge they won't have to buy anything! Woman of all ages can relate to BABOOSHKA, but the intention is for it to go International an African, Indian, Chinese adaptation to include issues that relate to that culture the Italians are obsessed with flat tummies, in the Punjab tribe, dimply buttocks are seen as sexy for instance! The Babooshka script should be updated before every production starts." Kiki Kendrick
Liberated Theatre's BABOOSHKA is produced by Host Universal the company responsible for the 5065 Lift and Flight 5065: BA London Eye, for Cafédirect.
Kiki Kendrick was a creative in advertising, working at two of the best agencies in London: Bartle Bogle Hegarty and Abbott Mead Vickers and an Associate Creative Director in New York's hottest shop Kirsehenbuam and Bond. She became a consultant for the Body Shop after her outspoken views on women's issues in her 'OBSESSION FOR WOMEN' tour caught their attention. With Host Universal, she created and produced the Body Shop's FULL VOICE magazine, inspiring women all over the world to 'Love Your Body'. Kiki helped launch the 5065 Lift in Edinburgh then she helped produce the shows that went onto perform at Soho Theatre - which is how Liberated Theatre was born. BABOOSHKA'S universal appeal, has seen it 'sell out' every time it has been performed on both sides of the world it has also been adapted to TV. The re-named 'RETAIL THERAPY' is currently with the BBC. Kiki wrote, produced, performed then premiered her second play MUTTON at the Edinburgh Festival this year at the Gilded Balloon and has since adapted it to TV and radio. Kiki's third play entitled BITCHES is in development. http://www.kikikendrick.com
Julie Balloo has worked as an actress and a stand up comic. For the past few years she's been Jenny Eclair's writing partner. They've written the Radio 4 series ON BABY ST, JUST JULIETTE, INCONVENIENCE, HE'S LEAVING HIS WIFE and JASON'S MUM. THE ANDY WARHOL SYNDROME that premiered at Edinburgh Festival 2004, then had a season at the Riverside Studios, before touring and being adapted for radio. Julie's solo works include MORPEOUS DESCENDING in Cafedirect's 5065 Lift at the Edinburgh Festival, CLAY which was ran in London, Edinburgh, Melbourne and OFFOFF BROADWAY and ROCKET GIRL radio comedy sketches. She's just completed a novel set in the heady world of Am dram theatre and is currently co writing a drama for Hewland International Productions.
