Femoid

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https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2026/femoid

Date Reviewed: 14/03/2026

Vixen Theatre Company's bold, incisive and interesting play on modern gender issues.

While I suspect the play's title may play a role in deterring some of it's more hesitant audience. I cannot encourage people more to see this slice of what feels like real life onstage.

Our three juvenile protagonists set the tone of the play with their opening line:

“Is it ethical to f*ck a priest?”

From that moment, the production establishes itself as a story about female desire and sexual naivety colliding with an ideology of masculine hostility that circulates online. Importantly, this is not a piece of theatre that simply attacks men. The girls blame their male attackers for their actions, but not entirely for the politics that shaped them. Instead, the play opens a broader discussion about the systems that produce this ignorance.

Education becomes a central focus. These girls are sheltered from the real world by their private schooling, and the script addresses that reality directly. One line in particular stood out:

“Your home is a trench, sheltering you”

The metaphor is striking. A home should be a place of safety, but here it functions more like a trench: a defensive position protecting you from a hostile outside world. A world that, if approached carelessly, could harm you. While the sentiment behind protection is understandable, the play suggests that this kind of sheltering creates its own danger. People raised in ignorance, even when well intentioned, are rarely prepared to face the complexities of the world beyond that protection.

The manosphere is presented as part of the problem, but the supposed solution is also scrutinised. Shielding children through elite education while keeping them uninformed is portrayed as another structural failure. The play explores both sides of this tension with clarity.

Visually, the production reinforces this atmosphere from the outset. References to the manosphere appear projected onto sheets that frame the stage, reminding the audience of the digital environment surrounding these characters. The effect is powerful, although the messaging occasionally feels broad where a more precise touch might have strengthened the impact.

The writing itself feels contemporary and energetic. The script contains many quotable lines and a rhythm of dialogue that suits the characters well. Conversations flow naturally, though the girls often speak with a level of articulation that slightly exceeds their age. Their conversations are also deeply insular, filled with references that only they understand. In many ways this insularity is the point. These are young people who have grown up within a bubble.

The boys they encounter are hardly more prepared. They come from another private Catholic school, reinforcing the idea that isolation and misunderstanding operate across both sides of the social divide.

The set and design support the production effectively, complementing the performers and helping ground the scenes without distracting from the dialogue.

What emerges most clearly is the characters’ anger. It is directed at a system that expects them to become “femoids”, unfeeling and endlessly accommodating figures defined only by reproduction and sexual availability. The play challenges that expectation directly. These girls are on the edge of bright futures, and watching their naivety slowly dissolve is one of the most compelling aspects of the production.

In the final moments, the show makes several clever allusions to the case of Eurydice Dixon. The references land with unexpected weight and emotional clarity. The result is a bold, fresh, and fiercely political piece of theatre that leaves a lasting impression.

Laura (Instagram: @unfancyphotographer) deserves credit as my assistant reviewer for Femoid. Her insights provide vital to my this review and personal opinion of the show.