Woman Business – Footfalls Theatre Company / The Jack Studio Theatre, London

Shilpa Varma writes and performs Woman Business at the Jack Studio Theatre, following Diya through different stages of womanhood as she balances expectations against her wishes for herself.

Woman Business

The thing about a well-written solo performance such as this one is that a story can be very specific and yet universal at the same time. The specifics of Shilpa Varma’s Woman Business are just that: very specific. Diya (played by Varma) grew up in various villages in India, her parents’ trade as potters dictating their nomadic lifestyle. I can’t really relate much to that, or to being separated from the household as impure during your first menstruation and all the ones thereafter (the “women business” of the title). Neither the experience of being a ‘five feet brown woman’ in England. Or living out a widowhood in India, bound by certain societal expectations of how a widow behaves.

What I can relate to, however, is the way that women everywhere are conditioned for certain social roles. Men, too, but the conditioning of women is in many cases designed to make them smaller, to decentre their own desires and encourage them instead to put others first. To meet all those societal expectations, or risk… well, what you risk depends on the society, from disapproval right through to death. Luckily I don’t face death for defying customs, and neither does Diya. But plenty of women do. Here, the story is more about the death of dreams when you spend too long putting yourself last.

Anyway, this is the subject, more or less, of Woman Business. In just over an hour, Varma acts out Diya’s life from girlhood to dotage. She moves between these states with skill, bringing girlish energy and the uncertainty of old age in good measure. A simple set with a backdrop of saris and fabrics allows Varma to bring each version of Diya to life, putting on a favourite pink sari or a widow’s simple white over her base costume.

A ‘Five Feet Brown Woman’ Tells Her Story

Diya’s suppressed desire to be a writer seems to drive a lyrical quality in the piece. It goes from monologue to something more poetic, with a few musical interludes as well. The music and sound design is by Nick Wells, who is one half of the team behind Footfalls Theatre Company. The other half is Frances Bodiam, who directs. Having also run Flame Tree Publishing together for some time, it’s not surprising that storytelling seems to be at the forefront.

And that is perhaps where I see some scope for further development of Woman Business. The storytelling is strong, and the production currently focuses on that aspect. An even stronger approach might be bolder in experimenting with the set design and spatial aesthetics, or allowing more ambiguous or interpretative elements as the plot progresses. This second point starts to come through just at the end.

But all in all, Woman Business is a warm and engaging piece of theatre. Diya’s story is a reminder that every person we encounter contains multitudes. And that still waters run deep. I hope to see more both from Varma and from Footfalls Theatre in future.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

Woman Business on until 27 June 2026. More info and tickets here.