Dirty Old Woman - only slightly left to the imagination

Halfway through Wet Ink Collective’s production, Nina (Susan McFarlen), the eponymous Dirty Old Woman, finds herself in the arms of a much younger lover. Time stops. Nina turns to the audience and asks “Is it wrong to delight in such beauty?” The answer to us, obviously, is no. The fact that writer Loretta Seto has heavily stacked the play’s conflict on conservative moral wisdom is the slightest detriment to what’s otherwise a very good production.

“But sir!” critics of critics might object, “is this not the same conservative antagonism that exists in the real world?” It is, yes, but is a theatre really the most effective venue to stage this kind of political protest? Who in the audience is going to disagree with you? (Especially when you have the brilliant MacFarlen as your lead). 

A lot of this show falls for its own flattery - that women, like men, can still desire sex after fifty (“Am I right, ladies?”). Cue dirty jokes, cue porno music, enter attractive modern dance teacher, Gerry (Robert Salvador)… Seriously. Credit Salvador for pulling it off, but where does a guy like that guy come from? The show deals with adult female sexual fantasy very humanely, but has a difficult time elevating itself into anything more nuanced.

Emmelia Gordon and Alison Kelly turn in great supporting performances. It’d be nice to see their stage time stretched out, or maybe it’d be nice to see this production developed beyond its one hour frame. You get the sense that most of that time belongs to McFarlen, who not only carries the show, but lifts it into one of the best performances of this year’s Fringe.