Marvellous women

This evening was the culmination of the brilliant International Women's Day programme organised by a group of women in Almuñecar. It was a series of monologues featuring famous and less famous women  through the centuries, written by local author Lesley Hart (last on the right of this photo). They've tried really hard to make the event as bilingual as possible, so it was first performed in English by the group in the photo, and then a modified version was performed by a group of Spanish women -- some of the English monologues shortened and translated, plus some extras that they wrote themselves.

S declared he would only go to the Spanish show, but I wanted to show support to a number of women I know, including lapsed blipper guiri (in the red turban) and her partner F (third from right). So we returned from the beach early and S dropped me off before going home for a shower and a siesta after his 20 km walk.

I was glad I'd forsaken the beach; the monologues were brilliantly written and passionately performed. Historical figures included Lucy, the preserved prehistoric woman, a sacrificed Inca princess, Joan of Arc, Artemisia Gentileschi (played by guiri), and Lancashire "witch" Alice Nutter. F was a convincing Mother Courage, and 92-year-old Pat, on the left sitting in the chair, brilliantly depicted a woman with dementia in a care home. She was so convincing and moving; it reminded me so much of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads. Another highlight was the light relief in the form of Sue's monologue about a cremation in which the dear departed is in a hurry to leave. The whole thing was really compelling.

S showed up for the Spanish version, and as I'd enjoyed the English one so much, I joined him. It was interesting to see and hear how different it was. The English version had a few short, subtle musical interludes on violin and keyboard to set the mood. The Spanish version had the singer from our local karaoke bar in a dress slit up the thigh singing a tune with a chorus of "We are marvellous" while accompanying herself on the piano. At one point the audience was required to join in. The performers were younger, in more stylish costumes, and more reliant on their printed texts. It was still good, but I was glad I'd seen the English version because for me it was much more powerful.

Afterwards we found we were sitting just along from Pat, the elderly lady mentioned above. With limited mobility she needed a taxi to get home, and as we were the only English speakers around by then, we ended up waiting with her for it to arrive rather than leaving her on her own. We had a chance for a good chat with her because it took 15 minutes and three phone calls for the taxi to turn up. Luckily it wasn't too cold out. She had a career as a broadcaster and drama teacher in the UK, and definitely has not lost her marbles.

So, a good evening. We finally got her safely into the taxi and stopped for a tapa on the way home; continuation of the tapas crawl proper will have to wait.