The Three Marias", playing at Olive Studio at Greenside George Street, is a tale of three real-life feminist heroes: Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Teresa Horta, and Maria Velho da Costa.

Set in 1970's Portugal during the Estado Novo regime, it follows our three Marias as they write a book that speaks the truth of women who no longer want to be treated as second-class citizens under the regime. The audience feels a sense of fear at every knock and sliding of an envelope under the door, each enough to paralyse the actresses.

We get snippets from radio broadcasts to indicate the media's influence on the regime and how women were spoken about at the time.

For such a fascinating and important show, it does need some fine tuning. I did a little research on the history behind the story before coming to the show, but had I not, I feel I would have been completely lost. The show starts with one of the Marias coming in from being attacked, stating it was because of her writing. When we as an audience have no context as to what this means, making it a little jarring before the story is established. The connections between the scenes are a little abrupt also. The show needs to be filled with more context and little more character development for those who do not know the history of these women, as it is a really interesting story that I think many would enjoy.

The direction and stage design could also be edited slightly to help suspend audience's disbelief. For example, the stage is littered with books from the wrong time era, one very shiny looking one in particular was published in 2016 in a play set in the 1970's. A hot pink suitcase with wheels juts out from a couch, and with the suitcases with wheels being patented first in 1972, it's highly unlikely one would be here, let alone one dyed hot pink. I also found it odd for one of the Marias to have such a strong American accent when she was playing a Portuguese woman. These may seem like little details, but they are important to bring authenticity to the show, and there were a little too many to be completely dismissed

The shown is not without it's poignant moments, though, and has such a powerful message that is especially relevant in these scary times, many of us hoping to not revert back to the way these three women had it. I just feel it needs to learn from this run and develop from its feedback, coming back stronger next year.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I hope you have seen some great feminist shows at the fringe, and I hope you're having a fantastic fringe! 😁
Love,
Tony x