Ardmore, Okla. is home to Ardmore Little Theatre Inc, and Sunday May 1, 2022, at 2:30 p.m. was precisely when the final performance of The Drowning Girls was performed. The story was written by Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson, and Daniela Vlaskalic, and directed by Joh Mann.
According to the director’s notes, the story is based on a true story of, ‘three women in England at the beginning of the 20th century, who simply tries to live up to the expectations placed on women of the time…who discovered too late that their fate was never in their own hands.”
The story of the three women in this period was just the beginning of a play that should be anchored in history as one of the greatest shows on earth. Joh Mann took this true story - with the help of many exceptional performing artists, and a stage crew that lacks in nothing - to a place that would compete with any performance a person may attend stretching from Paris, France to New York City.
Sitting in the theatre awaiting the start of The Drowning Girls was much more than one might expect. The stage was set with what seemed to be a non -iving prop, including a towering perch, where a male sat on a chair, and three iron bathtubs.
Arriving about twenty minutes early and reading the program while gazing at a perfectly placed and authentic time period looking stage with what seemed human-less was the first mistake. The lights went dim and noise ceased, and suddenly what seemed to be a mannequin man began to move and from the three seemingly empty bathtubs arose the three female victims dripping wet with voices of an angelic sound.
The prelude was dynamic, but it was quite subtle compared to the explosive performance that was in store for the crowd. The performance told the story of the three women who were promised into marriage and then robbed of money, integrity, dignity, and finally the very breath of life.
The entire cast was voiced by the three female vic tims, this laid way for the other characters to impose as though they were speaking. This was a challenge well accomplished.
Generally, to get a proper feeling of a play of this caliber, one must clear their head of all preconceived thoughts and implications of impartiality, as well as empathize with the characters. In this case, such process was inevitable as the director and cast did a magical job of portraying this mind set upon the audience. The performance had a mysterious way of whirling the viewer back in time and placing them in the very shoes of the victor and the victim in a trice.
A teacher once asked their art student, “what is the function of the art?”. To which the student replied, “the function of the art is to provide what life does not.”
If you were one of the fortunate ones to experience this performance, an explanation of the teacher and student is not necessary as The Drowning Girls performance explains that quote in spades.