Femoid - Blue Room Theatre Review

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Tue 28 Jan 2025 - Sat 01 Feb 2025

Day, I. (Director). (2025). Femoid. Warren, I. (Writer). [Theatre Production]. Blue Room Theatre. Photo credit Stephen Heath Photography.

FEMOID is a critical feminist drama from Vixen Theatre Company that examines the rise of incel culture online and the impact it has had on women. FEMOID debuted at the Blue Room Theatre on Wednesday, 29 January 2025 as part of Summer Nights 2025. It was written by Iris Warren, directed by Izabella Day, and produced by Talia Zipper. Iris Warren, Roisin Wallace-Nash and Natasha Pearson take the stage in FEMOID as three young women about to enter into adulthood who face challenges in their day-to-day lives due to toxic misogyny. The show gets the name FEMOID from online incel communities. An incel is short for an 'involuntary celibate male' who has been unsuccessful in finding a romantic partner. Most incels are white, straight men who feel an entitlement to sex and harbour a lot of anger and resentment towards women for refusing to date them. Incels use a lot of derogatory language to dehumanise women, their bodies, and their worth as human beings. A 'femoid' is a term used by incels to describe women as semi-humanoids who are subservient and inferior to men who can be used for sex, cooking, and housework.


Day, I. (Director). (2025). Femoid. Warren, I. (Writer). [Theatre Production]. Blue Room Theatre. Photo credit Stephen Heath Photography.

FEMOID tells the coming-of-age story of three young women, Rory, Olive and Piper in their final year of high school. The girls are presented as very sheltered,naïve , and childlike: they wear frilly white socks, tie their hair back with ribbons, and gossip about school and boys. They know little about how the world works beyond school. The blossoming young women are overshadowed by vulgar messages posted online by incels slut-shaming women and threatening to commit acts of sexual violence. There was an interesting story told at the beginning of the show about when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River with his army in 49BC. According to historians, Ceaser uttered the phrase "Alea iacta est" when he gave the order for his army to cross the river and enter Italy. In modern English, his words translate to mean "The die has been cast" or "Passing a point of no return."


Day, I. (Director). (2025). Femoid. Warren, I. (Writer). [Theatre Production]. Blue Room Theatre. Photo credit Stephen Heath Photography.

The story of Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon provided an interesting metaphor. How I saw it was there was a time when Rory, Olive and Piper were oblivious to the toxic manosphere that existed online. Once all of that changed, the girls passed a point of no return, and lost a little bit of themselves. They realized that there was a war being waged online against women by angry, entitled men who saw them as less than human. In the eyes of those men, there were targets on their backs and a countdown started from the moment that they were born. It was really tragic watching the full weight of toxic masculinity break down each of the girls. The biggest message I took away from FEMOID was until something is done to stop the spread of incel culture online the war against women is not going to end.

Femoid is currently showing at the Blue Room Theatre until Saturday, 1 February 2025. The show runs for 60 minutes and is suitable for people 16 years and older. It contains references to extremist gender-based and sexual violence, coarse language and themes of death, toxic masculinity, sex and violence. There will be haze, strobe lighting, and flashing projections of hate speech from incel forums. Ticket prices are $32.00 for full price and $27.00 for concession. To book tickets for this show please visit https://blueroom.org.au

Marisa Quinn-Haisu was invited as a guest.

Summary: FEMOID explores the dark side of the internet and the effect that toxic online culture can have on women.
Cost Full price $30.00, concession $25.00
Website: https://blueroom.org.au/events/femoid/
When: Tuesday, 28 January to Saturday, 1 February 2025
Where: The Blue Room Theatre, 53 James Street Mall, Perth WA 6000
Running Time: 60 minutes
Audience: 16 years+
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The State - The Blue Room Theatre
Gal Pals - The Blue Room Theatre
Hell is Other People - The Blue Room Theatre
Where Water Once Was - The Blue Room Theatre
We'll Always Have Bali - The Blue Room Theatre
The Bleeding Tree - Blue Room Theatre
Borderline - The Blue Room Theatre
Watch and Act - The Blue Room Theatre

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