Molotov Criptail

By The Nasty Girls
The Unity Theatre, Liverpool, 13th June 7pm

Reviewed by Andrea Beed

The Nasty Girls are an all female cast who devise, write and perform all their own material. The company experience disabilities personally and work hard to provide insight into the reality of living with a disability.

Humour, wit and cynicism are their instruments of illumination. This comic trio vented their frustrations, and attempted to shatter preconceptions with a series of snappy sketches, incorporating digital media and spoken English and British Sign Language. In each scene the women delivered fresh political jibes, and an increased sense of annoyance and exasperation.

The recurrent theme throughout the performance was the prejudice and marginality non-able bodied individuals face in mainstream culture. The use of punnery on recent TV show titles (I'm a Cripple, Get Me Out of Care; Dislocation Dislocation Dislocation), the inclusion of gags about a Guide Dog strike (introducing Skippy the kangaroo and Flipper as potential substitutes) created momentary hilarity, underpinned with a sense of discernment. Cheap laughs and controversial humour characterized this extremely cynical production, there were few niceties and sympathy was certainly unwelcome. The Nasty Girls effectively attacked discrimination surrounding disabilities and presented us with disabled characters that are vicious, foul mouthed, and sarcastic. Sadly, I believe that these bitter and cynical depictions were relished far more by the performers than the often-alienated audience.