''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 Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in 1978 before moving to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

as ''Trafford Tanzi'' in 1980, later achieving commercial success in London.

Plot

The play is set in a

wrestling ring A wrestling ring is the stage on which a professional wrestling match usually occurs. It is similarly constructed to a boxing ring and is traditionally square-shaped. Configuration and construction The configuration and construction of the trad ...

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 Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

named Dean Rebel and supports him in his career. Eventually, she becomes a champion professional

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat sport ...

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 A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...

Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of 235,493 in 2017. It covers Retrieved on 13 December 2007. and includes the area of Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Ur ...

in Greater Manchester, England. The play has also been produced under a variety of other titles, including ''

Tuebrook Tuebrook is a North-East area of Liverpool, England. At the 2001 census the population was 14,490. Toponymy The origin of the name may be Tew Brook, a tributary of the Alt. The brook itself is now almost entirely piped or culverted, with the l ...

Tanzi'', '' Tarzana Tanzi'', '' Tujunga Tanzi'', ''Turbo Tanzi'', ''

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Tanzi'', ''

Tickfaw Tickfaw was founded in 1852 and is a village in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 694 at the 2010 census. Tickfaw is part of the Hammond Micropolitan Statistical Area. It was originally inhabited by Italian-Ameri ...

Tanzi'', and ''Tarantula Tanzi''. The 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 Toyah Ann Willcox (born 18 May 1958) is an English musician, actress, and TV presenter. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Willcox has had eight top 40 singles, released over 20 albums, written two books, appeared in over 40 stage plays an ...

starred in a production at the

Mermaid Theatre The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre encompassing the site of Puddle Dock and Curriers' Alley at Blackfriars in the City of London, and the first built in the City since the time of Shakespeare. It was, importantly, also one of the first new thea ...

in London, from March to August 1983.

Teaneck Tanzi

In 1983, the play was produced on Broadway under the title ''

Teaneck Teaneck () is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 39,776, reflecting an increase of 516 (+1.3%) fr ...

Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap''. Alternating in the lead role of Tanzi were

Deborah Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

(lead singer of the band Blondie) and

Caitlin Clarke Caitlin Clarke (born Katherine Anne Clarke, May 3, 1952 – September 9, 2004) was an American theater and film actress best known for her role as Valerian in the 1981 fantasy film ''Dragonslayer (1981 film), Dragonslayer'' and for her role ...

; the role was double-cast because of the strenuous nature of the wrestling involved. Also appearing in the Broadway production was comedian

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes b ...

as the referee; Kaufman was attracted to the role because of the wrestling theme. (Kaufman had himself been known for wrestling against women and had claimed to be the world inter-gender wrestling champion, known for his staged match with professional wrestler

Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since Apr ...

.) Despite the play's previous success in London, though, ''Teaneck Tanzi'' closed on Broadway the same day it opened. (There were, however, two performances -- a matinee and an evening show.)

References

External links

*{{ibdb title , id=4218 , title=Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap 1980 plays English plays