Review: The Ecstasy of Victoria Woodhull

There's no doubt that Victoria Woodhull makes for a fantastic subject for theatre. She was the first female stockbroker on Wall Street; the first woman to address Congress; the first women to run for President of the USA. We know this, because we're told it, exactly in this bullet point fashion, a expositional style which runs all the way through a history play as dry as a Wikipedia entry.

Ashley Ford, who delivers a solo performance, does well to maintain an energetic stage presence. The play's central conceit is that Woodhull, along with others such as her sister, Tennessee, are summoned by a novice clairvoyant. Woodhull's early career as a spiritualist provides the neat thematic link here, and Ford metamorphoses from the over-excited rookie clairvoyant to these fascinating women. There's some nice moments, like a marriage in which she walks an audience member down the aisle and back to his seat. And there's some well-pointed characters, like Tennessee, who she plays suggestively and confidently with a leg up on a chair. But the transitions between them, played with arms in the air with a spiritual twirl, are fairly hack. And there's some quite superfluous blocking, presumably designed to provide a bit of interest, but which result in some clumsy circling round the back of a table.

But, though well-researched, this production can't escape a leaden script, which rarely misses an opportunity to say rather than do. "Father, do you remember when money got really tight"; "I am his wife and have little choice but to follow him." We all need to learn more about the incredible Victoria Woodhull. But not like this.