Can a woman get married and still be a feminist? The answer seems obviously yes. And yet, recently engaged Meg Millane makes a compelling articulation of this exact anxiety in her one-woman show Bride To Be at Greenside.
Bride To Be starts as a drag act, with Millane playing the character of a male wedding entertainer. The bit is good, but I am thankful to find out that it’s not the entire show. Instead, Bride To Be is an intelligent interrogation of the choice to get married in 2026.
Millane explores this concept from different angles, taking on a range of characters and archetypes, some familiar, others more original. These include the overzealous Maid of Honour at the bachelorette party, the sexually liberated “kooky aunt” who strongly discourages her from getting married at all, and a classic vanilla wedding cake, who judgementally espouses conservative values and laments the sexually liberal youth of today.
Whilst the character comedy is good, it’s in the stand-up element of the show that Millane really shines. She establishes her propensity for sharp punchlines early with a particularly dark joke about how she knew her fiancé was the one. It’s also educational and well researched. I genuinely learned things I didn’t know about the history of bachelorette parties and male strippers. She has a captivating stage presence and the audience are even treated to some of her professionally trained jazz choreography.
But what makes Bride To Be really stand out is what’s being expressed underneath the jokes. It explores the cognitive dissonance between being a modern, liberal heterosexual woman who chooses to join the institution of marriage, fully aware of its historical and modern implications. Millane is not preachy as she explores this, rather she is articulating what it’s like to embody that contradiction. Bride To Be is a clever critique of choice feminism, interrogating the idea that our choices are unproblematically ours to make. A throwaway confession towards the end about beauty standards will be relatable to many.
Bride To Be is a witty and novel interrogation of modern feminism, personal freedom and self-perception. A great show for anyone who enjoys clever satirical comedy.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
