How Does A Snake Shed Its Skin?

emilylouisehardy
Aug 17, 2014
2 min read

By Amy Stow

This is, of course, a million dollar question. A quick Wikipedia search tells me all I need to know about snakes and their propensity to shed their skin - but this doesn't detract from the wonder of such a phenomenon. How does a Snake Shed its Skin? is not really about snakes, however, but rather centres on how one person can be a chameleon, adapting to their environment, stripping away the shackles of the past, or simply indulging in a whim to become a different person.

Virginia Woolf, Marilyn Monroe and Margaret Thatcher form the crux of creator Susanna Hislop's characters. Using their diary extracts, their to-do lists, letters and written works, as well as some of her own - hilarious - childhood diary entries, Hislop weaves an intricate, manic tapestry that cleverly intertwines the lives of these four individuals until they conglomerate, becoming practically inseparable.

Embodying themes such as diet, sexuality, fame, appearance, and, predominantly, mental health, this brave piece of original theatre is a wonderful wake up call to the limitations and expectations that society places on the masses. Individuality is quashed, and quirkiness is shunned, until it must come out, or one is driven mad with the continual temperance of actions and desires.

Perhaps classified more as performance art than theatre, especially given the lack of a clear narrative, How does a Snake Shed its Skin? is a fascinating revelation of the similarities between iconic females of the past that are seemingly worlds apart. Hislop’s performance is fabulous, as she potters about the stage and fearlessly confronts and connects with audience members. This production highlights how, as humans, we are more linked to both one another and our ancestry than we could possibly imagine, and left me wondering when I last shed my own skin.