Theatre
Safe Place
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Mary Brennan
four stars
LATE one rainy night, a lone figure knocks on Martine’s front door. Martine (Jennifer Black) does what many of us wouldn’t: she opens that 4am door. And then – still clueless as to who the stranger is – she invites the shivering, frightened young woman inside. Martine, a prominent and very vocal feminist with strong views (akin to Germaine Greer’s) on what constitutes a “real” woman, has in fact just brought Rowan (Shane Convery) into her home. And Rowan, aged nineteen, is a transgender woman with a keen sense of trans rights, and an even keener sense of the wrongs that a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) like Martine is actively encouraging.
What follows is a frank, thoughtful and sensitively negotiated pathway across the current minefield of gender-related issues, with writer/director Clara Glynn airing some of the hotly debated attitudes that have provoked recent headlines. Glynn, however, takes us beyond oppositional dogmas and makes Safe Place about real people with real needs. Martine’s entire life has been bound up in fighting against sexism, but as she gets older – and her body, like her bolshie spirit, gets crankier – she’s home alone, with her computer and her causes. Rowan, meanwhile, is homeless and jobless because of choosing to reveal her true gender identity – and for all her defiant speeches, her assertive behaviour, Rowan is every bit as lonely as Martine. Shane Convery, currently in his final year on the BA Musical Theatre course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, balances Rowan on a brilliantly nervy tightrope between confidence and insecurity, while being utterly convincing as a self-centred young adult demanding to be taken seriously. Jennifer Black’s Martine parallels this with her own cocktail of mixed emotions, sparked through with wry humour and an integrity that resists the politically expedient advice from her agent (Nalini Chetty). Maybe the best point that’s made, however, is that whatever “bits” you’re born with, you need to have a heart that is open and caring.
Sponsored by Heineken
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here