8.23.2009

I've been very nervous...

Sex & Desperation opened on Thursday and we had two reviewers in the audience. I've found the first review online and when I read it, it brought a smile to my face (even though I got slightly dinged for a few things). I've been nervous leading up to the opening. Though the process has been relatively smooth, there were a few things (like starting the rehearsal process two weeks earlier) that I would have liked to do.

All in all I'm happy though. I was blessed with a very amazing (and drama-free) cast. I had four playwrights that laid their work out there and were very collaborative. I did learn a lot though through this process. Originally I thought 4 one acts wouldn't be any more difficult than a full-length that had a similar running time, boy was I wrong.

Each play provided it's own unique challenges; sometimes I saw things differently than the playwright, one of the shows demanded a lot of tablework to figure out what was going on, one of the shows uses each actor so scheduling around conflicts can be tricky, one of my actors has a thick accent so it took time to make sure we had the clarity we needed (though I think his accent adds a little something special to that piece).

It was a learning experience that I am very grateful for. I'm very excited to jump into next season's BPF submissions and start the process all over again as I am doing the BPF selection at Spots next summer.

Also, I'm about to start work on a generative piece using the text of the Spoon River Anthology called Graves in the Water. Look for it Halloween weekend at The Strand, free to all as a part of Free Fall Baltimore. :)

8.09.2009

Are we apologizing for what is in between our legs?

I saw this article shared by Jayme Kilburn, Artistic Director of the Strand Theater about the prejudices that female playwrights receive & how those prejudices negatively affect theatres.

"...reveals that women tend to write plays about women, but plays featuring female protagonists are produced less often than those starring men. And, while the proportion of scripts that get produced is fairly equal between men and women, the total number of productions is inequitable since fewer women write plays (one informal study of nonprofit theaters by the playwright Julia Jordan found that 17 percent of their plays were written by women). One way women have compensated for writing female stories is to write fewer roles, which make their plays accessible to more theaters."


So this quote got me thinking... do we as women artists apologize for what is in between our legs?

I had an experience recently working with two male graphic designers. The initial poster proof had a really interesting design, but at the bottom of the poster was this image of a sweaty belly. My initial reaction was that looked like the belly of some slut. Sure that sounds a little harsh, but I got the image of the girls I used to see out at bars getting trashed and going home with the hottest guy that hit on them that night. She was too skinny, her bones poking out, basically an "ideal" men's fantasy. She was not a real woman to me.

I took objection, saying I loved the design, but had an issue with the belly element. It could be interpreted that I didn't like the belly b/c it was too skinny, but what it really is for me is that I don't want women to be looked at like just a place to make a deposit. It isn't just about what is in between our legs. A woman's sexuality & sensuality starts with the mind & works its way down. I had to remind myself that it was okay for me to have this opinion. As women we are taught by society to apologize for how we feel about something, just go with the flow for fear of being the "crazy bitch".

My art helps me to stop apologizing for what lies between my legs & fully embrace my point of view as a young female.

Btw, the graphic designers I was working with were completely awesome about altering the element. The picture for this post is the end result. I feel it's sexy, sensual & doesn't objectify me as a female, but embraces female sexuality as something powerful.