POLICE 

Throughout the piece the police are the over-riding oppressive force,  hindering the journey of every character. The only exception is when they help Leyla in the pub, but even in this instance they do so with too much force and cause destruction. 

The police have the strongest presence in the first story although not obviously. The ghost represents the police officer who infiltrates Genes life pretending to love her and ultimately leaves her with a baby. I want to highlight the state-sanctioned rape of women by police.

Vanessa queues with her Dr. for a coffee when the police attempt to give Vanessa a ticket for soliciting. The police do this because they have received a phone call from an old lady in Sloane Square.  This interaction has a devastating effect on Leyla.  Leyla would have been given the caution had it not been for Dr. Kidney.  Dr. Kidney was able to use his white male privilege to diffuse the situation, in fact, he even gets away with shouting at the officers.  We later find out that it is an old woman from Sloane Square peering out of her window who has reported Leyla to the police, based on assumptions and prejudices she holds about the way Leyla acts/looks.  The police believe the old lady without question because of her social status and they never ask whether the old lady is telling the truth but believe her instantly asking Leyla on the first approach 'We haven't seen you in these parts before... how long have you worked in Sloane Square'?

If there is anything I want the audience to walk away from this show with, it's the destructive effect the police have on the lives of ordinary women everywhere.  The reality is police rarely solve crimes and their purpose is to keep the peace by protecting the state.  By telling the stories in the style I have chosen I am hoping the audience is able to feel empowered to form their own conclusions about the role of the police specifically in regard to the interactions they have with female citizens.
 

BODY IMAGE

The first human character we see is Gene who we presume to be in a sexual health centre but we later find out is having labiaplasty.

Gene is highly effected by self-image, celebrities, and even more so, by her mother. Gene wants to meet a man but rather than go out and spend her money on meeting lots of interesting people and putting herself in situations where she is able to converse with others she spends her time wrapped up with changing her body to fit in with societal pressures. 

The irony is that when she finally meets a man he deserts her despite the changes she has made to her body, and now with a child, she is responsible for someone else's.

FEMINISM

Leyla is a feminist but she doesn't find out until she is paid a visit from the wives and girlfriends of the men she barred from her pub. Her role (unknowingly) is not just to serve pints in the pub, but also serve the women who are usually left at home whilst the men gather in the bar. 

Gene's chair in the 'chair salesroom' is a metaphor for the expectations put on women.  Gene displays the chair in the same way she feels she is on display herself and needs to meet certain criteria, which is ultimately detrimental to her growth.

The Zebra is looking out over the women in the story, observing their lives. Zebra has the ultimate lesson to learn, driven by fear, and in a play with all female characters, she is the only one to give up her freedom and return to the herd where she believes she will be safer. However when she returns to apparent 'safety' her freedom is lost and she is killed anyway. 

FREEDOM

The Zebra represents the freedom all the characters are pining for in the show. However, the Zebra also demonstrates how quickly freedom can be lost when we submit to fear. 

Each character in the show experiences freedom in a different way. Vanessa experiences freedom through laughter and friendship. Gene experiences freedom through love, even though this is ultimately lost when she is betrayed. Leyla experiences both oppression and freedom in asserting herself and we see how entwined the two are. It is Leyla who through her decisive actions unknowingly frees another group of oppressed women and here we see how our actions ultimately effect not just our experiences, but the freedom and oppression of those around us.

OPPRESSION

All the characters experience oppression from outside forces and these experiences ultimately increase their likelihood of self-oppression. Gene spends a large proportion of her time changing the way she looks, consequently making her late for work. Gene isn't shown to have much of social life, with the majority of her interactions being with her mum, or clinician.