Hens' Teeth

Hens' Teeth Women's Comedy Company was a woman-only comedy troupe based in Wellington, New Zealand.

"Following her attendance at a women's comedy festival in Sydney,"[1] Kate JasonSmith founded the group in time to debut just before Christmas 1988, when it broke box office records for Wellington's Circa Theatre.[2] She has acted as producer throughout the company's 13 years of regular performances. Each show was held together by a compere or M.C., with the most famous being "Mother Chook" (Lee Hatherly; full name, Leone Rosemary Lucille Hatherly). The core cast of women included Dame Kate Harcourt, Lorae Parry,[3] Pinky Agnew, Helen Moulder, Carmel McGlone, Sue Dunlop, Sally Rodwell, Madeline McNamara, Rose Beauchamp, Prue Langbein, Bub Bridger, April Phillips, and Darien Takle.

The company's name "pointed to the scarcity of female comedians"[1] working professionally in New Zealand. Despite the group's name, between 1988 and 2001 over 100 women performed with Hens' Teeth, including Ginette McDonald, Rima te Wiata, Emily Perkins, Cathy Sheat, Michelle Scullion, Ann Pacey, Riwia Brown, Ann Jones, Alison Wall, Pam Corkery, Perry Piercy, Nancy Fulford, Stephanie Creed, Vicki Walker, Donna Akersten, Jane Waddell, TV personality Chloe (Chloe Perovic), and Phylli JasonSmith.

Performance history and format

A second season at Taki Rua Theatre (also in Wellington) early in 1989 had similar success to the first, as well as "Hen's Teeth; the second bite," at The Depot Theatre, Wellington.[4] The company created several productions a year for 13 years.

In March 1990 Hens' Teeth was included in the biennial New Zealand International Festival of the Arts with the title "Daughter of Hen's Teeth," with design by Debra Bustin and choreography by Jamie Bull; the performances were in the Illott Concert Chamber of the Wellington Town Hall;[5] music was by Michelle Scullion and performers included Sandra McKay, Madeline McNamara, Helen Moulder, Lorae Parry, and Sally Rodwell.[6] The September 1991 Circa Theatre season, “Hens’ Teeth squawk this way: a season of women comedians," included Lee Hatherly, Rose Beauchamp, Bub Bridger, Sue Dunlop, Madeline McNamara, Prue Langbein, Helen Moulder, Lorae Parry, and Dame Kate Harcourt. A group of performers may also have appeared on the night including Beryl Te Wiata, Sally Rodwell, Jane Waddell, and more.[7] The March 1996 Circa Theatre season, "Hen's Teeth: Raw eggs and old boilers," featured Lee Hatherly, with Rose Beauchamp, Bub Bridger, Kate Harcourt, Lorae Parry, Madeline McNamara, Lindy Hatherly (Lee Hatherly's daughter, performing a fire-eating act), Sally Rodwell, Prue Langbein, Sue Dunlop, Marg Layton, Cathie Sheat, Pinky Agnew, April Mardle, Carmel McGlone, Ann Pacey, and Dorothy McKegg.[8]

The group was largely dormant from 2001 until 2017 when it returned to Circa Theatre as part of WTF! (Women's Theatre Festival), which ran between 14–25 March that year.

The company toured throughout New Zealand. In 1995 they made a Creative NZ-sponsored tour of South Island towns - 19 venues in 23 days. In 1992 they performed at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia.[9] The usual format involved a comic line-up that changed nightly, with some regulars and some "tryouts." It has been described as "a variety show consisting of a series of comedy sketches"[10] connected with the comediennes' identity as women. Hens' Teeth's success has been attributed to its focus on things that are part of the fabric of most women's lives: sex, politics, aging, cooking, ambition, breastfeeding, men, opera, housework, dieting, childcare, self-defense, love, money, contraception, creativity, etc. The company's only major rule was that the performers' jokes should not come at the expense of men or other minorities.

Significance in New Zealand culture

Many of these women were recognizable figures before joining Hens' Teeth; for others, Hens' Teeth provided an opportunity to launch or develop their careers. For example, Helen Moulder and Rose Beauchamp developed a show called The Legend Returns that "toured extensively around NZ (and to San Francisco), and is a popular audio available in the Radio New Zealand collection."[10] Moulder's part in the duo is an "aging diva" called Cynthia Fortitude; Beauchamp is Gertie, the long-suffering, generally mute, but piano-playing sidekick. In 2018 the pair developed a sequel to The Legend Returns, called Cynthia and Gertie Go Baroque, which takes as its starting point Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas. Their characters as well as elements of both longer works have their genesis in skits originally performed for Hens' Teeth audiences.

Hens' Teeth began as a reaction to the absence of professional opportunities for women in entertainment in New Zealand. Its legacy continues in on-going work by former members of the company. The problem it addressed, though, has remained a topic of discussion for New Zealand women. Kathy McRae also refers to the same influences from the mid-1980s as shaping her career in theater and television as an actor and director. Kate JasonSmith herself has done academic research, funded in part by the New Horizons for Women Trust, on "the proportion of female roles on New Zealand state and screen," as part of an honours degree program in 2002 at Victoria University of Wellington, while Marian Evans undertook a similar project on women's involvement in film production in New Zealand as part of graduate studies at Victoria University. Evans continues to promote women's work in film through her "Wellywood Woman" blog, while Kate JasonSmith wrote I'll Tell You This for Nothing - My Mother the War Hero, a solo theatre piece about her mother that premiered in 2018, which she has since performed nationally and at the Edinburgh and Adelaide Fringe Festivals.

gollark: If the internet ceased to exist, there would be an immediate and huge economic crisis as international trade imploded.
gollark: They USED to all be replaceable, but unfortunately the phone market worsened.
gollark: This is because I do not have a mouse.
gollark: I still entirely use the trackpad on my laptop for scrolling.
gollark: ALL should have multiple monitors.

References
  1. Elliott, Matt. Kiwi Jokers: The Rise and Rise of New Zealand Comedy. Auckland: HarperCollins, 1997. ISBN 1 86950 248 5. P109.
  2. Banks, Hannah Joyce (2018). A Stage of Our Own: Women Devising Theatre in Aotearoa New Zealand. Doctoral thesis. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington. p. 74.
  3. Chambers Colin (2006). Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre. Continuum. p. 584. ISBN 978-1847140012.
  4. "Depot Theatre :[Ephemera and programmes of quarto size for theatre and dance productions at the Depot Theatre, Wellington. 1985-1989]". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  5. "[Theatre ephemera and programmes of octavo size, for music-hall, comedy and variety productions in New Zealand. 1990]". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  6. "[Programmes and fliers relating to plays and dramatic performances in New Zealand. 1989]". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  7. "Circa Theatre: [Programmes and fliers. 1990-1999]". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  8. "Circa Theatre: [Programmes and pamphlets. 1996]". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  9. Fringe Vault: fringevault.com.au/mini_sites/events/1992?page=3&sort=ASC, accessdate: August 17, 2016
  10. "Flights of Imagination." Regional News (Wellington, New Zealand); issue 70 (12 December 2018), p3.
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