If you think a film discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of menstruation might be a little uncomfortable, you need to watch Breaking The Curse.
Local playwright Rachel Walliser has written a hilarious, poignant, and sometimes cringey show (because, let’s be honest, most everyone who has a period has at least one terrible story) with the goal of normalizing open conversations about menstruation.
Breaking The Curse, a co-production between Saskatoon’s 25th Street Theatre and Ferre Play Theatre, is a short film featuring four different acting trios, each led by a different director. The show is formatted like a kid’s television special; sometimes it cuts from one actor to the next in quick succession, and other times presents longer vignettes featuring a full trio. The format enables Breaking The Curse to touch on a wide variety of topics as they pertain to menstruation — including LGBTQ+ issues, abortion, menstrual disorders, and the general sense of taboo surrounding menstruation — while not diving very deeply into those topics.
While the script was generally fast-paced and engaging, some monologues felt too formal for the conversational atmosphere the actors were attempting to portray. This sometimes led to group scenes feeling stiff or awkward.
Group D, featuring Jenna Berenbaum, Rachel McLaughlin, Danielle Roy, and directed by Marley Duckett, did a particularly good job of making their scenes have a “girls’ slumber party” sort of feel, complete with interjections, mildly off-topic tangents, and a pause for selfies with the video camera.
Group A, featuring Ezra Forest, Kristel Harder, Bobbi-Lee Jones, and directed by Johanna Arnott, leaned into the formality of the script’s monologues by opting out of the “chats over coffee” format that was prevalent throughout the film. By presenting their stories in a more straightforward way, it ultimately added more variety to the show and made the film stronger as a whole.
A note for period- and non-period-havers alike: my husband, who was in attendance with this reviewer and does not have periods, left the show feeling like he missed a lot of the content because it was only touched on, but not explained in-depth. He felt there were a lot of inside jokes that he wasn’t in on, and he left with more questions about the details of periods than he had going in.
Breaking The Curse is not an educational film. It’s an attempt to normalize menstruation and conversations surrounding it. It’s a chance for those with periods to see themselves represented, even when their particular period experience has felt isolating in the past.
It’s a hope of changing the culture surrounding menstruation from one of secrecy and shame to one of support and community.
The 25th Street Theatre and Ferre Play Theatre co-production Breaking The Curse runs until May 16, 2022 via on-demand streaming. Tickets can be purchased at 25thstreettheatre.org or by calling 306-664-2239.
