What Every Woman Knows

Synopsis

Maggie Wylie is a woman with no charm. But when her brothers catch penniless student John Shand breaking into the family home to read their books, a bizarre bargain is struck - if the Wylie’s fund John’s education, he will marry Maggie. John’s ascent of the political ladder earns him powerful friends and the affection of the beautiful Lady Sybil Tenterden. Maggie is determined to act differently from other wives if her husband falls in love, but how will John react when he discovers that his wife, not her money, has been the making of him? What Every Woman Knows has been seen as an expression of Barrie’s support for the public struggle of the suffragettes to gain women the vote, as well as a deeply moving portrayal of the secrets which keep a marriage alive.

Our Review:

17 January 2006

JM Barrie's pro feminist play has a wonderful female protagonist in the form of feisty Maggie Wylie (Jenny Ogilvie). This strong-willed Scottish woman hides behind the veil that her knitting provides. But upon meeting scholar, John Shand (Mark Arends) she begins to live up to her true potential. "Every man who is high up loves to think he has done it all himself; and the wife smiles, and lets it go at that." Thus Maggie quietly helps Shand enter the murky world of politics turning her hand to tweaking his speeches and providing the man with the mettle required to succeed.

The problem is that Maggie's devotion to John is not reciprocated. She herself claims "I am plain and I have no charm." Her beau seems to agree and seeks love elsewhere in the guise of the beautiful but empty Lady Sybil (Ruta Gedmintas). After meeting Sybil's Aunt, comtesse de la Briere (Gabrielle Drake), Maggie begins to realise that she can use her intelligence to greater effect as puppet master to S...

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