Review of Rosy Carrick's Musclebound
This review was originally commissioned by the CatStrand Young Creatives for their Young Critics Corner, for their Spotlight blog. It was written by Thomas McClure on the 18th of March 2024.
On Friday the 15th of March 2024, the indomitable Rosy Carrick delivered a coming-of-age show that doesn't shy away from the coming.
Her seventy-five-minute one-woman show asks a tough question; what are the sexual lessons we pass onto our daughters? As her daughter Olive, played wonderfully by the various screenshots of a young Courtney Cox, enters womanhood and begins to spread her wings and discover who she is, so does Rosy Carrick, exploring life after the most intensive decades of motherhood. Carrick and her daughter both embark on separate journeys of sexual awakening as they start to become independent from one another. For Carrick, it begins with a childhood classic, 'He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe', which lights a fire in her and leads her to set her eyes on musclebound body-builders, homo-erotic torture scenes, and deeper meanings behind pleasure, pain, power, pride, and perception.
Before I go any further, it must be said that my perspective on this show may be influenced and limited by the fact that I often present as and grew up as a man, and that this show is very much about the experiences of women. If you would prefer a woman's opinion of this show, I would recommend the following reviews:
- Ruth Jepson (The Reviews Hub)
โโโโโโhttps://www.thereviewshub.com/musclebound-theatre-deli-sheffield/
- Rachael Healy (The Guardian)
โโโโโโhttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/mar/04/arnie-dolph-and-me-musclebound-bodybuilding-sex
- Anisha Pucadyil (North West End UK)
โโโโโโhttps://northwestend.com/musclebound-camden-peoples-theatre/
- Emily Jupp (The Stage)
โโโโโโhttps://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/musclebound-review-assembly-roxy-edinburgh-rosy-carrick
Carrick uses her show to explore the sexual gaze and sexual power of heterosexual women and how that is percieved and achieved. The show itself opens on a clip of young Arnold Schwarzenneger from the documentary 'Pumping Iron' wherein he relates the feeling of pumping to the sensation of climaxing, immediately introducing us to the themes of power, pleasure, pain, pride, and perception. From beginning to end, Carrick presents a focused narrative around exploring these themes.
Musclebound has a strongly crafted narrative that weaves together scenes displaying her desire and their triggers, followed by questions, and culminating in men disappointing her. In the first half of the show, we are shown the various torture scenes from decades past where pain is inflicted upon musclebound men by other villainous men and how inherently erotic each scene is. Carrick, besides being aroused by this, naturally questions the intent behind these scenes, and while questioning her own desires and how best to understand them, she seeks out those very same musclebound men for answers. When Carrick asks Dolph Lundgren about his favourite torture scene, and implies the pleasure she recieves from watching them, Lundgren's reply focuses in on the few scenes in which a female character tortures his characters. And when Carrick asks Arnold Schwarzenneger about the desire for so many scenes of strong men being punished and tormented, he talks on and on about narrative structure and basic storytelling techniques employed in these films. These interactions imply the men do not percieve the pleasure of the pain in the same way as Carrick does. Lundgren fails to grasp that the homo-erotic nature of many of the scenes can simply be pleasurable to women, and Schwarzenneger chalks the torture down to a narrative need, despite that need often being fulfilled in a litany of other ways, and despite he himself speaking of the sexual pleasure he derives from working out. Carrick, and by extension the audience, are left high and dry, disappointed by these men and their answers. She effectively highlights the distinct differences between the male gaze and female gaze in regards to musclebound men and pleasurable pain. As she later confesses, Carrick feels the most pleasure when she's alone, thinking of men but not being with them. She understands what she wants in a way men seem to consistently fail to do. A not-uncommon experience for many women. Carrick comes to a rather simple yet important lesson: focus on yourself, do not hide your sexuality, and do not settle for less. She demands women take their sexual desires seriously, to not accept the bare minimum from their partners and to not lie to appease their partners, but to take charge and be honest, with others and themselves, and find what gives them power and pleasure and focus on that, and to not fear the unconventional or taboo. She completes her coming-of-age story asking the audience to think about their own understanding of their sexual selves, and what lessons they would want to pass on to the next generation of women.
As Carrick travels down her own path of discovery, so does her daughter, Olive, who has met a boy she likes and wants to get to know. This parallel coming-of-age story shares similar themes with the primary story, most notably the boy's failure to realise who his partner is and what she really wants. Olive, who had grown up in a fairly sex-positive household, is shown to be young and inexperienced while at the same time emotionally resilient and not at all naive. This contrasts very well with Carrick's portrayal of herself, who is clearly experienced but still lost and sometimes at her wits end, leading to incredibly endearing scenes between the two of them as they successfully support one another, and sometimes fail to do so. Throughout the show, it is clear that Carrick unashamedly puts herself and her daughter first, not afraid to lay into her Olive's boyfriend for not paying enough attention to her wants or to cast out her own long-term lover to focus on she wants herself. The relationship between Rosy Carrick and Olive make up the heart of the show.
Despite the heavy themes at play, Musclebound is a hilarious and surreal show, with enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat, and full of laugh-out-loud moments and insightful lessons. Carrick works well with an audience when it is important, especially near the beginning and near the end of the show as she engages more with reactions and appears more flexible in her deliveries, though through most of the show she does noticeably pull back to focus her attention on the performance. At her best when she's introspective, Carrick is not afraid to laugh at herself, or criticise herself, or be proud of herself, she opens up the audience and remains charming and relatable even at her lowest moments. With a tight and focused story, strong direction, and good use of audio and video and props, the entire show is extremely effective in making us care for the characters and want find the answers to their questions as much as they do. It can be hard to reconcile with the fact that this was a one-woman show, with just one actor, a few videos, some audio, and a couple of props bringing this whole story to life. It is a testament to Carrick's acting ability that she can immerse an audience in a scene consisting of three characters with just her on stage. I've never been so engrossed in a one-person play in all my life. I highly recommend Musclebound to anyone who is able to see it, though it is not for the faint of heart.
