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Is it possible to write a feminist play with no women in it?
And that a woman did not write?
Both are supposed to provoke us, Make Us Think, even anger us.
Theyre going to run us out of town.
But no ones going to be chasing the cast ofMankinddown 42nd Street with pitchforks.
Its far from the incendiary send-up of modern misogyny that OHara imagines.
Books are well written or badly written.
Dude, get rid of it, Mark tells Jason immediately.
After all, theyre both on the pill this never should have happened.
Theyre not ready for it.
They dont want it.
They dont even know each other that well.
Theyre just fuckmates, dude.
But theres a problem.
In the clink, Jason carries his pregnancy to term and lo and behold!
The first one born in 100 years!
But, spoiler alert: Dont get attached.
This miracle child weirdly called just Cry-Baby by its parents (maybe theyve forgotten any female names?)
OHara is interested in parodying mans imbecility to man, and institutionalized misogyny isnt his only target.
Its rich soil, so why does it not yield more exciting fruit?
To begin with, the plays dystopia is simultaneously underdeveloped and overexplained.
How have men adapted to give birth?
Why is abortion illegal?
What drove women to extinction?
That sounds profound, but actually … what?
Suddenly, the satire ofMankindacquires its own missing kindness.
These poor, selfish fools look absurd theyareabsurd but at last we care about them.
Then, all at once, the play shows both its heart and its fangs.
