Three Good Wives proves to be a powerful example of graphic, non-narative puppet theatre and just the right amount for Naima to make sense of.
To someone whose experience with military families and relationships ranges from little to none, the image of the lives of those in this oft-forgotten sub-section tends to be monolithic. The most common picture is one of a sisterhood that celebrates tradition and firmly believes in standing by your man. In this graphic poem, director Alissa Mello has, with great gentleness, presented a moving, visual acknowledgement of the strained aspects of life for the wives of deployed army men.
Defined by a profession, inseparable from the personal, and one that doesn’t really belong to them but to their husbands, these are the wives who consent to being left long-term. As an unescapble robotic voice explains, “I knew the job description when I married him”. Mello highlights the 'job' of a military wife and the toll it takes through influential cyber chattering and the ubiquitous news streams that have become white noise to many of us, but play a far more frightening role to these women. Her talent lies in being affective without being overly sentimental.
Three performers – puppeteers, actors and singers all at once – manipulate featureless puppets with their mouths sewn shut as they wait, mourn, and heal. What's most apparent is their incredible sense of loss: not just of their partners but of their sense of self and purpose. Using puppets certainly maintains the dark side of this reality for “women who wait”. They're holding down the fort, but for who exactly? Snippets of stories emerge via internet forums of women whose husbands only disrupt steady homes when they return, or spend more time with their friends than their wives.
Mello makes no bones about the stagnant Second World War attitudes that seem to pervade the domestic military community. Through Three Good Wives she has identified the part that social media has played in opening up long unspoken issues. The wives themselves are no angels. They judge and chastise as humans do, they are vulnerable and influential, needy and enduring.
Three Good Wives is an excellent showcase for theatre-makers Inkfish. Inkfish have demonstrated the impact of utilising different mediums in theatre which seems to work best in this non-narrative theatre. They've expertly struck a balance without overkill. The combination of penetrating sound and stark imagery through shadow and rod puppets contrasts with the sense of urgency and the sense of emptiness. The constant stream of internet chatter and news reports soon become nails on a blackboard but it's the vacant dial tone that's worse.
At only an hour long, this thought-provoking piece stops before it becomes too heavy, but it's unfailingly fascinating.
Three Good Wives runs at Little Angel Theatre until 28th March
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