I’m a feminist. I’ve read things. I know what the Bechdel Test is. So Rowena Hutson’s 'Strong Female Character' – with its Wolverine-esque poster – seemed like a sure bet for some smart, maybe even controversial comedy.
The audience enters and is greeted by Rowena sitting onstage, bopping along to music and giving winks and waves. It’s not the angry, mutton chops Jackman we were expecting.
She shares her very small stage with her wardrobe and her numerous props and, after a mimed re-enactment of all five 'Die Hard' movies (complete with fake blood), Rowena opens by proclaiming her own feminism and how the hard-bitten action heroes of the '80s helped her become a ‘strong female character’.
It certainly is promising stuff. Incongruity and surprise can make for brilliant comedy, and selling John McClane et al as feminist icons is an ambitious goal. The audience is Princess Leia muttering in Han Solo’s ear as they descend into the asteroid: ‘I hope you know what you’re doing.’ If only Rowena had come up with a better response than Han: ‘Yeah, me too.’
Ultimately, all comedy audiences want the comedian to succeed. We want to applaud. We want to see exactly how 'Indiana' Jones teaches a 14-year-old Rowena how to be a woman, a tomboy and a hero. And most of all, we want to laugh. But somewhere along the way, 'Strong Female Character’s gun gets jammed.
Hutson keeps loading the bullets: clever costume changes, jokes on hand-written signs, kissing an audience member! But way too few get fired, and fewer still hit the mark. 'Strong Female Character' is more like 'Comedy Storm Trooper'; laser bolts are flying everywhere, but no one ends up in stitches. Instead, grazed (from the simply uncomfortable sexual experience story) and wincing (at how close ‘SFC’ came to success), the audience staggers off into the Garden, searching for the Lost Ark, the hidden Skywalker, or maybe just a few more laughs.
'Strong Female Character' performs The Garden of Unearthly Delights until 28 February as part of Adelaide Fringe Festival which runs until 14 March.
