Show explores women’s perceptions

Audience invited to ask questions on Saturday

MICHELLE NOLAN

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Have you ever attended a theater production and wished you could discuss the ideas expressed with the performers?

“The Other End … Women’s Project,” a collaboration of a dozen women, will offer such an opportunity after two performances on Saturday. The 90- minute program about women’s issues also will be presented Thursday and Friday.

The performance is directed by Deb Currier, an associate professor of theater arts at Western Washington University, and Cami Ostman, a licensed family therapist.

WOMEN’S PROJECT PERFORMANCE

What: “The Other End … Women’s Project,” a collaboration of 12 Western Washington University students and community women, ages 19 to 45.
When: 8 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Friday, and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Ving! Performance Space, 311 E. Holly St.
Admission: $2 at the door.
Caution: Content is unsuitable for children. Teens should attend only with parental permission.

Question: It sounds neat to have people discuss the presentation with the performers.

Currier: Those who attend Thursday or Friday are welcome to return for the Saturday discussions, too.

Q: How did the project develop?

Ostman: This is a first, because even though it’s sponsored by Western’s Student Theatre Productions, it’s a collaboration between WWU women students, who auditioned for it, and community members. It’s a completely devised piece, meaning it is workshopped, shaped and written by the participants. What has emerged is profound, funny and heartbreaking.

Currier: I really wanted to explore what it means to be a woman today with both my students and women my age. Hard times in life inspired me. I was caught between two different perceptions of me as a woman, and I realized I had this great wealth of student energy. I asked “What if we got together and talked about how we’ve formed our identities as women?”

Q: So this isn’t “The Vagina Monologues?”

Currier: It certainly isn’t. We had considered putting a tag on it: “Not the Vagina Monologues.” And it’s not a play about Mars and Venus. It’s about women.

Ostman: I was fascinated by Deb’s idea, because so much of what I do in family therapy is helping people formulate and perform their identities in the world. Q: Is there much humor?

Currier: There’s some really funny stuff. For example, the segment “Female Feud” is a spoof on “Family Feud,” expressing how women are taught to see each other as the enemy. In this performance, 12 women with different backgrounds have arrived at that place where we’re not competing, but where we’re collaborating and supporting each other. Our 12-member company says this has changed their lives.

Q: So this is about changing perceptions?

Ostman: It might be more accurate to say we want to explore our own perceptions and then invite other people to share theirs.

Q: It sounds like it might be “R” rated.

Ostman: There is adult content, intended for college age and older, so teenagers should attend only with parental permission.

Q: Should men attend? Currier: Certainly. Our performance is actually a wonderful way to open dialogues.

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Tuesday, May. 13, 2008

Show explores women’s perceptions

Audience invited to ask questions on Saturday

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