Beginning with the atmosphere of a provocative burlesque, ‘Daughters of Lot’ drags the characters into their show so that they can learn to be powerful women. Starting with a very sordid tone, it proceeds to channel the Marquis de Sade as the leader of the libertines, Atlanta, rebels against her own design. In attempting to free the children from the world of expectations she discovers that plans once set in motion have their own momentum.
Ultimately focusing on the corruption of the innocent the story skips over any understanding of Lot to focus more on the transgressive elements of the story. It is the nameless daughters who become the main
characters and are exposed to modern ‘empowerment’ messages by the libertines. As they are slowly robbed of their agency by the barrage of evidence that sex is power, they look for alternatives but find little to gain guidance from.
This is a very powerful play and while it wears its heart on its sleeve is smart enough not to preach to the converted. Ultimately it is flawed in that by painting the daughters in a sympathetic light it fails to recognise that the daughters are not simply incestuous but actively conspiring rapists. While it otherwise does a very good job of holding both genders accountable for poor behaviour, by excluding this final transgression it weakens the plays argument that we need to find a better way to treat each other.
4/5 
Benn Beaton
