''Difficult Women'' is a literary-folk music cabaret created in 1992, in Melbourne, by

Lin Van Hek Lin Van Hek (aka Lyn van Hecke, born Lyn Whitehead) is an Australian writer, singer, painter, dedigner and artist. She was a vice-president of the Society of Women Writers and co-founder of the literary-music group Difficult Women. Early life Va ...

and Joe Dolce and has been performing internationally for 15 years.

History

''Difficult Women'', a name taken from the Salem witch trials, was established as a literary-folk music project by

and her domestic partner, Joe Dolce, in early 1992. Hek performed the roles to Dolce's compositions. Note: Hek's first name is shown as "Linn". Nicole Leedham of '' The Canberra Times'' observed, "to some they are difficult women, to others they were courageous... Hek is bringing these women alive with her theatrical collaboration with musician olce" The group works through a combination of theatrical vignettes, original music, songs, harmony singing and oration, to tell the stories of women who were labelled "difficult" by society for their willingness to defy what was expected of them. '' The Guardian''s David Fickling noted that he show isabout pioneering feminists who were thought in their time to be 'difficult', rather than visionary." A typical show contains over four hours of material on important women including Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath,

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...

, Memphis Minnie, Sonya Tolstoi, Gertrude Stein,

Alice B. Toklas Alice Babette Toklas (April 30, 1877 – March 7, 1967) was an American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century, and the life partner of American writer Gertrude Stein. Early life Alice B. Toklas was born in San F ...

, Camille Claudel, Katherine Mansfield and Louisa Lawson. Its first run was in mid-June 1992 at La Mama Theatre, Carlton. A Canberra performance in March 1994 was covered by ''The Canberra Times'': "the portraits were gentle but clear, clever and minor costume changes marking the differences. Strange Australian aunts and the work of Dale Spender on the links between gender and language mingled with Madam Tolstoy, who wrote out ''War and Peace'' 53 times by hand for her husband." The run at the Carclew Ballroom, North Adelaide, was over four days in mid-July of that year. In February 1995, Difficult Women was performed at Budinski's Theatre of Exile, Carlton. In 2007, a performance was in the Victoria rural city of

Castlemaine Castlemaine may mean: * Castlemaine, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia ** Castlemaine Football Club, an Australian rules football club ** Castlemaine railway station * Castlemaine, County Kerry, a town in Ireland * Castlemaine Brewery, Western ...

, at the Acquador Room, in April.

Bibliography

References

External links

Difficult women
website {{authority control Victoria (Australia) musical groups Feminism in Australia Australian folk music groups Theatre companies in Australia