Katherine Mansfield is alive and well (until she’s not) at Circa Two – and if you think you have seen all you need to about KM, you haven’t until you have been to Bloomsbury Women & the Wild Colonial Girl.  

Even if you are unfamiliar with New Zealand’s most famous expatriate short story writer, let alone Virginia Woolf and the rest of the Bloomsbury Group, you still have a great treat in store. Those who do recognise literary and historical references, however, will have a slightly richer experience.

In essence this play and production offers timeless and universal insights into a brilliant young woman’s liberation from what she sees as a stultifying family and homeland, and her escape to Britain where she glows (and sometimes glowers) in the shadow of a formidably talented and opinionated clique of writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists, only to find New Zealand is in her “very bones” and the vital source of her creative inspiration.

Either adrift and out of her depth or soaring off on her own trajectory, depending on which way you look at it, Katherine does what she feels she must to survive and thrive, consuming and expressing all life has to offer her heart, mind and body before consumption curtails her too-short life. Riddled with paradox, her story rings much more true than those of many well-crafted fictional characters.

By focusing mainly on the fraught yet interdependent relationship between Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf, creating her script entirely from their words and those of others who shared their lives, Lorae Parry generates a dramatic energy that surges from the insecurities within, the conflicts between and the mutual admiration of both highly individual and trail-blazing women. Their blistering critiques of each other and their works reveal as much about themselves as about the other (an occupational hazard for any critic) while their respect for each other’s undoubted achievements and shared quest for new forms of writing forge an ambivalent bond.

The relatively rarefied KM/VW interactions are counterpointed by the more commonplace and domestic co-dependent relationship between KM and Ida Baker, summed up thus on the katherinemansfied.org.uk website: “Constance was Ida’s middle name and constant she was: as Katherine’s confidante, doormat, devotee, housekeeper, and ultimately nurse. Katherine called her ‘LM’, ‘Jones’, ‘the faithful one’, ‘the mountain’, ‘the slave’, ‘Albatross’.”

Isobel MacKinnon is luminous as Katherine, fully committed to each vividly true moment on her emotional roller-coaster, compelling our empathy and understanding even when we recoil at her less-than-pleasant traits. The initial shock of her astonishing physical likeness manifests as a definitive embodiment of every dimension of KM’s being, from libidinous to lost, insightful to gauche, witty to cruel … I defy anyone of any age, stage or gender not to be riveted by MacKinnon’s performance.

Jessica Robinson brilliantly contrasts the formidably intelligent yet self-doubting (probably bi-polar) Virginia Woolf with the down-trodden yet devoted Ida Baker (aka Leslie Moore or LM). Robinson also flicks from one state of being to another with an alacrity that belies the skills required, allowing us to and bask in the company of a legend and identify with Virginia’s vulnerability, and laugh at then empathise with Ida.

The way MacKinnon and Robinson work together is exemplary. Despite much of the text arising from the inner thoughts and writings of KM, VW and LM, there is always a sense they are interacting – facilitated by director Susan Wilson who ensures the play is always active and vibrant; always moving through time and space, both internal and geographical.

Sheila Horton’s gorgeous costume designs speak volumes about the time, place, status and state of each character, and the way simple changes of garments, hats or accessories denote new times or places is a key contribution to the dynamic action.

Lisa Maule’s set of simple but evocative furnishings and wall panels upon which abstract designs and portraits are projected (AV design by Maule and Haami Hawkins) is integral to play’s seamless flow, abetted by Marcus McShane’s excellent lighting design, Michael Nicholas Williams’ timely music and additional sound effects by Oliver Buckley.

For a story that is finally tragic, in that – following the appalling waste of human life in a war that took her beloved brother – a great talent was lost well before it had fulfilled its potential, Parry’s play mercifully avoids sentimentality, choosing instead to leave us with a strong sense of KM’s enduring vitality.

Bloomsbury Women & the Wild Colonial Girl kicks off this year’s Women’s Theatre Festival (WTF!), it is the first of two Circa shows (the next being Modern Girls in Bed opening on 1 September) to contribute to the KM130 Festival and it may also be seen as a ‘curtain-raiser’ to NZ Theatre Month given it runs until 15^th September.

There is lots coming up so I recommend you get in early to see Bloomsbury Women & the Wild Colonial Girl: 90 minutes of insight, revelations, wit and pathos.

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