An exposé of what happens behind the scenes of the bride’s biggest day, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress takes the viewer into the hiding room of the bridesmaids. Take your seat at the wedding of the season when the play hits the stage at ACT Hub on 8-18 May.

Like many bridal parties, some of the members are only connected through their friendship with the brides. However, at this Southern Belle’s wedding, the bridesmaids discover over the course of the day they all have much more in common with each other than they do with the bride.

“It’s quite sweet and simple, it has some important themes, ideas and messages in it but it’s all wrapped in this package of a giggle here and a belly laugh there,” says Charley Allanah, actor.

Penned by Alan Ball, known for American Beauty, Six Feet Under and True Blood, this tale is one of his lesser-known works but is well-loved in the circles that know it. Full of laughs and physical comedy, the play dares to ask questions about weddings that no one ever says out loud, like why the bridesmaid’s dresses are so ugly.

“I think it’s because brides are really nervous and so they put their bridesmaids in something they know won’t look as good as them,” says Ms Allanah “It is actually one of the things they say in the play, ‘Do you think Tracey actually likes these dresses or do you she was trying surround herself with ridiculous looking women to make herself look better?’”

Despite brides always noting it is a dress you could wear again, most of the time you know you won’t, and in this case, the maids definitely wouldn’t want to. Ms Allannah says the peach-hued gowns have been crafted specifically for each cast member.

“They are quite intentionally the ugliest thing ever invented, they’re really over the top fru-fru thing with a little fascinator hat, so gross and absurd,” smiles Ms Allanah.

Ugly dresses and questions about friendships aside, set in the early 1990s, the play reflects the social norms and expectations of the times. Our bridesmaids all with their own stories, showcase the changing tides.

“They’re an expression of a newish progressive younger wave that was happening in the ’80s, early ’90s. They look at the actions of their parents, how society is run and they feel pretty trapped by it and constrained by the social mores of the time,”

Finding solidarity in each other in their rejection of the constricts they face and their rejection of the bride. Ms Shannon says the brilliancy of the work is the subtle scenes between people in seemingly normal situations that get to the heart of what relationships are.

“It’s a cultural study of that time and that place but it is also interesting to look at what we have made a lot of progress on and there are other ways in which it feels we have gone backwards. It is holding a mirror up to today by showing us what it was like only 30 years ago.”

The five women feed into key female archetypes with their own flare and problems. There is the bride’s rebellious younger sister, the young Christian who looks up to the other women, the groom’s outspoken lesbian sister and two college friends who went down opposite paths in life.

“They’ve all got funny characteristics and relatable elements to them, everyone will look around and see women that they know,” says Ms Shannon.

Believing there is still a long way to go in terms of women’s empowerment, solidarity and freedom to flourish in the world, Ms Shannon hopes the audience reflects on what it might take to get there.

“I think the answer lies in some part with women and building these connections and having a strong group of friends around you and a belief in each other in women. It is a simple message.”

Laugh and connect with Five Women Wearing the Same Dress at ACT Hub on 8-18 May; acthub.com.au

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