A Man Walks into a Bar
By Rachel Blair
A woman, with the help of a man, nervously sets out to tell us all a joke: A man walks into a bar and meets a waitress. As the two begin to perform the joke for the audience, lines between the performers and characters blur and a tense and funny standoff about gender, sexuality, and power emerges. Is the customer justified in thinking something will happen between them? Is the waitress justified to lie? Why are some things funny to her and insulting to him? Ownership of the story becomes a competition as the man and woman unpack every word and movement, catching each other out on their assumptions and contradictions as they inch towards the dark and dangerous punchline.
A sharp meta-theatrical two-hander that skewers the dialogue surrounding men, women, and feminism, A Man Walks Into a Bar lays bare modern movements #NotAllMen and #YesAllWomen, forcing them under the spotlight of a complicated and sexually-charged bar culture. Fiercely clever and critical, it leaves the audience to continue the debate long after the joke ends.
