Timeout
Preview - Theatre Highlights
Dan Lerner
July 2003

Marxist feminists are out of fashion these days. They went out with flower prints and platforms. But Van Badham, the recidivist Australian playwright, is doing her best to revive the trend. This year she offers up the world premiere of Nikolina, the tale of a young girl from Krajina, washed ashore in Sheffield. As with her previous work, she weaves a string political message into her stories. You wouldn't guess it, but Nikolina is loosely modelled on last year's football rape case scandal. Consent, Badham says, is so much more than a straight yes or no. Her polemic is infuriating, but the issue key. If like last-year's well received Camarilla, she entertains as well as harangues with this love story, Nikolina will have achieved a rare blend of feminism and fun.