With midsumma festival on, one performance I saw was Man Up! with my brother. With the script expertly derived from a series of interviews taken by director Jeremy Ives through 2018, this was a thoughtful exploration of masculinity and how men are expected to appear, perform and identify.
This production covered plenty of ground. The four primary actors started by exploring common stereotypes, before weaving in severe examples of violence and depression, and also covering gentler self-reflections such as what a ‘good’ male role model is and what they look like. This had an undulating intensity that poignantly reflected the sad and abusive reality of some men who go from episodes of violent behaviour to ignorantly acting as if nothing is wrong.
While it does naturally come up for discussion in some workshops, it is impossible for Empowered Together to thoroughly explore issues of aggression, rejection, homophobia and masculinity in workshops. With the deep focus on sexual assault and consent, there are many structural issues that cannot be undone in a 90 minute window. Consequently, art like this is so important for as many people to see as possible – the dream would be for this content to be shared in schools and sporting clubs.
Unfortunately, a clumsy finish to the production jarred what had been a deep and thoughtful exploration with easy, convenient solutions like ‘be kind to people’ and ‘it’s okay to be emotional’. What gets lost in these answers is that the pressures to conform and belong are overwhelming compared to pressures to act ethically or with self-respect. Having raised many great questions, I believe it would have been more impactful to let this ponder in the audience’s mind rather than pose well-intentioned but simple solutions.
Regardless, this was an excellent production that I would recommend to anyone. I doubt there is a single audience member who wouldn’t relate with some part of this raw and honest content, and most will leave having also noticed something new about themselves or the men around them.
The play’s midsumma website: https://www.midsumma.org.au/whats-on/events/man-up/
The play’s own website: https://www.manup19.com/