GenQ - For the not so straight individual

Two women - Eight characters. Two Voices – Many stories. One stage – many settings. Her Aching Heart, inspired by the writings of Daphne Du Maurier et al, is an historic romp of lesbian love and desire juxtaposed with a blossoming contemporary liaison. Add an exploration of gender and class, a comment or three on the nature of relationships; set it against a musical backdrop and you have Her Aching Heart.

The performance begins with a song of love and heartbreak, and reference to a novel called “Her Aching Heart�. As the woman begins to read chapter 1 aloud, we are taken back to the era in which the book is set, with a character entering the stage and taking over the lines and actions from the books pages, transforming them to “real life�.

Madeleine Swain and Ruth Katerelos play main characters Lady Harriet Helstone and Molly Penhallow (amongst others!), a noblewoman and peasant in the late 1700s. They meet by chance whilst Harriet is on a hunt and varying scenarios that follow cause the pair to experience intense feelings of both hatred and passion towards the other.

It is this journey through the books chapters (so brilliantly guided by keyboardist and narrator Ben Kiley) that takes us through the circumstances in which the ladies find themselves questioning their sexuality, their instincts and their morals. Standalone solo song performances by both women’s present day characters, Harriet and Molly, act as interludes between the scenes and gave us the sense of two time dimensions intertwined.

Opening night jitters can probably be blamed for the few line stumbles that occurred, particularly in the beginning, though both women’s great acting ability was obvious as they switched characters effortlessly time and time again throughout the performance. It was evident that Ruth’s singing voice was the stronger of the two, however it was Madeleine’s ability to don many convincing accents and play man, woman and frail grandmother that impressed me even moreso.

All in all I found Her Aching Heart to be a very entertaining, funny and enthralling show that is well worth the look! Watch particularly for an extremely funny interplay between Lady Harriet, Molly Penhallow and a fox!

Playing now for Melbourne Fringe Festival and later in the year at Adelaide Feast.