REVIEW: THE HERO LEAVES ONE TOOTH Considers What Happens When Myths Become Reality But 'Evolution' Still Hasn't Fully Fixed Things.

Friday 21st July 2023, 7:30pm, KXT On Broadway

Erica J. Brennan’s new play THE HERO LEAVES ONE TOOTH reimagines a world where female superpowers are more than just cautionary myths.  Part horror story, part love story, the pros and cons of evolution play out under Cam Turnbull’s direction.

The program and signs around the KXT on Broadway foyer explain the inspiration for THE HERO LEAVES ONE TOOTH derives from the warning of ‘Vagina Dentata’ or ‘Toothed Vagina’ that features in the mythology of cultures around the world.  Collectively the stories generally have female genitalia evolving to have teeth that bite, inflicting serious injury on the aggressor if the woman was subjected to sexual violence and non-consensual intercourse.  THE HERO LEAVES ONE TOOTH considers if this is real with female bodies developing this feature in response to the rates of sexual violence which currently sits at 22% of women over the age of 15 having experienced sexual violence at some stage.  During a welcome home dinner party that Felix (Michael McStay) is insisting on hosting for an intimate group of friends, it becomes clear that his ‘girlfriend’ Neve (Kira-Che Heelan) is hiding things.  She’s not telling Felix shes back in contact with an ex-boyfriend and she’s not telling her friend and doctor Kadi (Cara Whitehouse) that the surgery Kadi conducted hasn’t worked.  The dinner party is tense at best with Felix being neurotic and controlling as he makes a rare foray into the kitchen while insisting that everyone go ‘analogue’ that night with devices placed in a locked box.  As the evening spins out of control it soon becomes clear that the old myths are no long just stories and the understanding that a woman still had control over the body with a certainty that her partner would be safe if the sex was consensual has ‘evolved’ to no longer be a certainty.

Meg Anderson (Production Design) utilizes the traverse KXT On Broadway stage to position Neve and Felix’s small apartment between a front door at one end of the stage and access to rear corridor that goes off to unseen rooms at the other end of the stage.  Jasmin Borsovszky’s lighting design allows for the sense of something not of this world going on and red washes of light work with David Molly’s video design when the Vagina Dentata is referenced.  Jake Nielsen’s original lyrics and compositions are brought to life under Alexander Lee-Reker’s Musical Direction with the assistance of musicians and vocalist drawn from the cast ensemble to present songs that connect to the myth origins of the Vagina Dentata story. 

With the story focusing on female consent its only natural that the work focuses on Neve, Kadi and Neve’s college friend Sasha (Claudia Shnier).  Kira-Che Heelan is powerful as Neve, a young woman with a secret and a personal sense of shame as her body refuses to ‘behave’ according to the accepted characteristics of the protective ‘features’.  She ensures that Neve has a complexity as the source of her need to control things is slowly revealed as Felix’s carefully orchestrated evening gradually falls apart. Cara Whitehouse’s Kadi is the peacemaker and voice of reason in the story as she placates the highly strung Gem while trying to get Neve to open up to her about the dental removal surgery she’s undergone.  Claudia Shnier presents the highly sexual and energetic Sasha with a naivety of someone that trusts that her body will conform to the expectations and not go ‘rogue’ so when it does betray her, she’s even more traumatized than the victim of her body’s features. 

As Felix, Michael McStay ensures that the returned traveler is seen as a complex and conflicted hipster pretentious character that seeks control over the world around him when he won’t face up to his real feelings about his friends.  Tom Rodgers ensures that his portrayal of Gem is the polar opposite of Felix’s repressed expression, presenting the friend as overt and dramatic but most importantly, in tune with his feelings.  Patricio Ibarra’s Benito serves the purpose of reinforcing that that artist’s muse and girlfriend Sasha is a highly sexual being while also serving as a comic foil to the rest of the tension as the creative spirit gets entranced by everything in the apartment.  The twist in the story comes from the unexpected appearance of Neve’s ex-lover Mark, delivered by David Woodland.  Woodland conveys Mark’s confusion of the mixed messaged while ensuring his secrets are held till the last when all the pieces fall into place for an unexpected ending.

THE HERO LEAVES ONE TOOTH is an intriguing work that at times makes the mythology seem like a pretty good idea before Brennan turns the story on its head and presents a new way for women to be messed around by life and nature.  There is a good balance of mystery, intrigue, horror and humor with an unexpected romance thrown in for good measure to ensure this work sits across multiple genres.

http://www.kingsxtheatre.com/the-hero-leaves-one-tooth#:~:text=The%20Hero%20Leaves%20One%20Tooth%20is%20a%20ferocious%20new%20satire,new%20play%20by%20Erica%20J.

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