Trafford Tanzi
Trafford Tanzi is a play by Clare Luckham. It was originally performed as Tuebrook Tanzi, The Venus Flytrap by the Everyman Theatre Company in Liverpool in 1978 before moving to Manchester as Trafford Tanzi in 1980, later achieving commercial success in London.
Plot
The play is set in a wrestling ring where the story of the title character, Tanzi, is told. Tanzi's parents bring her up to be feminine, but she refuses to conform to traditional femininity and is labelled a tomboy. She marries a professional wrestler named Dean Rebel and supports him in his career. Eventually, she becomes a champion professional wrestler herself and finally challenges her husband Dean to a match, with the loser being required to do the housework.In keeping with the wrestling theme, the play is divided into ten rounds, each of which ends with a bell. All of the cast members participate in wrestling during the play, and the audience is welcome to cheer and boo the characters as though they were at an actual wrestling match.
History
The word "Trafford" in the play's title refers to the metropolitan borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. The play has also been produced under a variety of other titles, including Tuebrook Tanzi, Tarzana Tanzi, Tujunga Tanzi, Turbo Tanzi, Texas Tanzi, Tickfaw Tanzi, and Tarantula Tanzi. It was performed in French in Ottawa simply as TanziThe play was originally performed in Trafford in 1980 by the feminist Monstrous Regiment Theatre Group. The play has sometimes been described as having a "bourgeois feminist" perspective. Singer and actress Toyah Willcox starred in a production at the Mermaid Theatre in London, from March to August 1983.