'Revenge of the Amazons' review: not the bold, feminist retelling it thinks it is

"Revenge of the Amazons" by New Zealand playwright Jean Betts, this year's long-awaited year-13 drama production, was unconventional and entertaining, albeit misguided. Advertised as a retelling of Shakespeare's famed "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", it follows three storylines. The first being that of the fairies and lovers, with mischief ensuing, the second being that of thespians in the 1970s, fighting patriarchy and misogyny, and the third explores the relationship between the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, and her fiance, the founder-hero of Athens, Theseus.

Though the main plot was supposed to be about the thespians in the '70s, it would have worked better if the original, Shakespearean plot was the main focus especially since it has the most stage time. The three plots felt very separate and were only integrated at the end when the thespians performed a play titled "Labia’s Lament". All the groups then came together to watch the play.

"Labia's Lament" is about a girl called Labia who was stuck in the patriarchy of a misogynistic society. At the end, Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, applauds them and scorns men for being horrible creatures.

Headmaster Drumm praised the play, observing that students  “tackled the serious issues surrounding the current place of many women in society”. Although it is true that all across the world a deep rooted, and frankly primitive, patriarchal belief is held about women being the weaker gender, it’s a more complex issue than simply “men suck”. 

In no way do I intend to defend men for crimes they are responsible for. But New Zealand has a suicide rate that is two times higher for men than women. Why would men with all the power, who are naturally born into an easier life, especially cisgender heterosexual men, be committing suicide? Could it possibly be because of the patriarchal beliefs that men are meant to be the stoic, unfeeling, stronger gender?

Yes, men have done horrible things, however times have changed since Theseus and Hippolyta. Surely we can begin properly deconstructing the patriarchy, perhaps beginning with teaching boys that they are allowed to show emotion and it doesn’t make them weak. 

This was much more of a radical feminist take than a feminist one. True feminism is about equality, but this was reversing the roles between men and women to contrast the difference. At one point Hippolyta condescendingly says “Oh you're so easily offended! Men are such an absurd mixture of logic and sentiment. So frightened of the truth, of love, of men prettier than they are. Such vain little things!” How is swapping the roles of women and men feminist if it then creates inequality? 

Another issue, relating to the performance, was the infantilization of neurodivergent people. During the show, the narrator, Year-13 actor Miller Bell, was hyped up by the crowd for delivering just a few lines. Contrast this with the treatment of the rest of the cast, many of whom played more complex characters with much more stage-time, who weren’t cheered for.

Not only is infantilising demeaning, it treats them as if they are not fully capable of performing at a level which they most certainly are. Mr Bell was treated as if he were a prodigy for saying a few lines in the play, when he would have been perfectly capable of having plenty more lines. 

However, parts of the play that were enjoyable included reference that King Oberon has taken multiple lovers. One of those mentioned was Peter Pan, which was not only amusing but also subtle queer representation. As for the actual acting it was befitting of Year-12 and -13 Accelerate students. Special mentions to Quinn Giblin as Theseus, Nathan Setefano as Oberon and Zara Baxter as Puck. In my humble, non-Thespian opinion they performed very well. 

A correction was made on 29 August, 2022: An earlier version of this article misspelled the surname of the playwright of "Revenge of the Amazons". She is Jean Betts.