In 1949 Roberta Cowell a racing car driver and RAF pilot met Michael Dillon a ship’s Doctor between them they changed transgender history forever. Yet after three years they parted ways and never spoke again.
The Law of Mayhem is a historical English common law which makes it an offence to intentionally and permanently disable or disfigure another person, often by removing a body part, to diminish their ability to defend themselves. Thus making it illegal for a Doctor to perform any form of gender-affirming surgery.
Kit Green takes on the role of the older Roberta looking back on her exciting and varied life and how she first met Michael (Pete MacHale) and the short yet life-changing journey they took together for themselves and many others since.
The production is set partly in 1949 with the younger Roberta and Michael played by Mos Bain and Oran Longmuir acting out conversations and meetings between the couple. However, the majority of the play evolves through a chance meeting (that never took place) where they discuss the journey they took and how far things have evolved.
Tabby Lamb has brought to the stage a part of history I did not know anything about and I have since researched further. It’s a thought-provoking play which highlights how far surgery, attitudes and the understanding of the pressure and ridicule many have faced in their position before and after 1949.
“Surely, where the mind cannot be made to fit the body, the body should be made to fit approximately, at any rate, to the mind, despite the prejudices of those who have not suffered these things.” The words originally written by Michael Dillon are as prevalent today as they were when he originally wrote them.
For more information about The Law of Mayhem and future productions at The Anvil in Basingstoke please use the link below.
Four Stars.
https://www.anvilarts.org.uk/events/the-law-of-mayhem
https://thackraymuseum.co.uk/transgender-pioneers-roberta-cowell-michael-dillon-and-harold-gillies/
Theatre, Art and Film Reviews 
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