REVIEW: The Stonewall Builder by Liz Clark
Irish based American singer songwriter Liz Clark has written a musical that is serious, thought provoking and very human.
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This piece first appeared in the print edition of West Cork People, a monthly newspaper with a print readership of 35,000 people and an ever-growing online presence.
The Stonewall Builder by Liz Clark at SKIBBEREEN Town Hall.
We all have different versions of ourselves that we show in different situations. There are roles that we might play at work, with family, with clients or on a night out with our friends. But what if our very essence were a fact that we could not show to some people?
West Cork based American songwriter Liz Clark’s new show The Stonewall Builder, which premiered recently in Skibbereen, uses this question as a jumping off point for a beautiful exploration of what it means to be a lesbian in an Irish society that is outwardly progressive but in reality has deep pockets of traditionalism.
The story centres around Liz’s real life work bringing art and creativity to older people in health care settings. The writer plays a version of herself and her three band members play all the other characters as well as different versions of Liz in a kind of more grown up, queer version of Disney’s Inside Out.
The retired people we meet in the hospital where Liz works are encouraged to share their memories as a basis for creative expression through songwriting. The show’s dramatic conflict comes from the fact that Liz must mine their memories while protecting her own truth by not revealing her whole self.
She talks about her kids but when they repeatedly ask about her husband -“Is he an Irish man?” - she deflects and describes her wife as her ‘spouse’, denying not just her own truth but the existence of the woman she loves.
Clark unpicks and exposes this theme throughout the show’s journey. She sings about being the cool lesbian chick in Brooklyn ‘wearing your big DMs’ (back when DM meant footwear rather than a way of communicating), meeting her future wife at an Open Mic evening, touring the world as a rock musician sleeping in hotels, on couches and then ‘not sleeping at all’. She was brave and fearless and now she is afraid of telling this group of old people that she is gay - how come?
In a logical world, we think, it seems a no brainer - just tell them already! But this is not a logical world and fortunately musical theatre is not a logical art form. It has the power to help us empathise with characters and engage with stories because its use of music magnifies emotions and Clark is expert at harnessing this power for her show. Musically the show is in the folk style of Come From Away or Darren Clark’s Wicker Husband.
Clark sings about the lifetime of ‘tiny cuts’ that have destabilised and confused her simply because she happens to love other women. Clark uses recorded spoken voice extracts of news stories about anti-LGBTQ+ laws, attitudes, politics and violence interwoven with a beautiful ballad to bring home the human effect of all these ‘tiny cuts’. These events might wash over anyone heterosexual no matter how much they consider themself an ally but Clark makes it clear that it is impossible for her not to feel personally attacked. This scene is one of the show’s strongest and shows Liz at her biggest moment of doubt, a moment which could have sent her character either back into her shell or given her the immense courage needed to tell her truth to a group of people who might be hostile.
I was also struck by how desensitised Clark needed to become to this constant prejudice and how hardened in order to survive. From having to actually tell parents and friends about who she is sexually attracted to - essentially ‘hi mum, hi dad..er…I’m not ‘normal’ - to the fact that there are dozens of countries where her very existence is illegal including World Cup host Qatar.
Clark hints at this hardening when describing her younger rock chick years and I think there is more to examine in this theme. When your shell has hardened and set, a song about unsetting it in order to enjoy a loving relationship like the one writer Liz clearly enjoys could work well.
There is a line in David Yazbek’s show The Band’s Visit when one character sings “Not break the ice, but melt the ice”. It feels like this line resonates here.
As well as the serious, emotional and thought provoking themes The Stonewall Builder provides plenty of humour and is very human. The scenes in the hospital are populated with West Cork characters that will be familiar to anyone who has spent time in the area.
Molly O’Mahony is hilarious as Sean a character that feels like he is modelled on one of my farming neighbours. She also gives us Straight Hot Dave, the man who wants to explain Pride (which triggers the wonderful song ‘Bitch Please') and needs ‘someone LGBTQ+’ to help with the diversity quotient on his Arts Council project funding application. There is certainly more to be mined from this ‘marginalised person as diversity accessory’ vein of public life.
Lorraine Crowley’s Nurse Boots is every overwrought middle manager we have ever met. She knows what she wants from you and has no mechanism to deviate from the assumption that you will do what she needs.
Mide Houlihan has wonderful comedy and musical timing. Her cameo as Seamus perfectly placed him as the emotional trigger to Liz’s final steps towards resolution.
The show works extremely well in a single act but there are opportunities to tighten up musically and dramatically. This would enable Ms Clark to go deeper with some of her themes and personally I would love her to deliver a huge eleven o’clock number after her final interaction with Seamus .This show was described as ‘Ireland’s first lesbian musical’ which does not truly do justice to the piece. Liz Clark has written a show that, because of her ability to be emotionally honest, explores universal themes of love, self and self-acceptance.
I look forward to enjoying the further development of this precious and important new Irish musical.
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