Three weeks into rehearsals for Rebel Kat Productions all female production of "Coriolanus: Fight like a Bitch" a rage brews in my belly. The women in this show are fantastic, every one of them, as well as the design team, production team, the producers, and the director. I am thrilled sitting at table reads, thrilled in movement sections, thrilled working on the script at home. And yet, a rage grows in my belly. A rage I didn't know was there, and I have probably been sitting on since I was young girl. It was awakened in our first rehearsal when our director asks us how we would fight, as women. Not learning to "fight like a man" for once but if we were really in a situation where we needed to fight in - how would we fight? I didn't know. I had to sit with it. I felt where the power in my body lived, and what areas I would move towards, and what areas I would move from. And that was how the anger was awoken.
Originally in Shakespeare's plays the entire cast was played by men - even the women's roles. Now I sit round a table with a cast of women, I feel like knights of the round table, entirely with glorious ladies. And, they are not playing these roles as men in this production - they are playing these roles as women. Women who fight, who lead, who stand for rights. They listen, they laugh, they support, they fight - like a Bitch.
I'm playing one of only two characters in the show that were originally written as women, and I feel the difference in their portrayal. Vulnerable, silent, obedient, emotional, beautiful, this was the ideal...and they were often viewed as weak. As I read and re-read the script I am continually struck by their strength. How active listening takes so much wisdom and courage, how holding space for your family takes the utmost strength, how wearing your emotions on your sleeve takes tremendous heart, and how being vulnerable is the ultimate act of honesty. Fight like a Bitch, yes, I will thank you...and as I fall more in love with the army of incredible women in the room with me everyday, I see the fullness from all sides. There are infinite ways to be a woman, and every one of them in their authenticity are absolutely perfect. Thank you "Coriolanus" team.
Come See: Coriolanus: Fight Like A Bitch
https://www.facebook.com/RebelKatProductions/
http://coriolanusfightlikeab.bpt.me/
https://twitter.com/seacoriolanus
https://www.broadwayworld.com/seattle/article/CORIOLANUS-FIGHT-LIKE-A-BITCH-Announces-Cast-20170810
Originally in Shakespeare's plays the entire cast was played by men - even the women's roles. Now I sit round a table with a cast of women, I feel like knights of the round table, entirely with glorious ladies. And, they are not playing these roles as men in this production - they are playing these roles as women. Women who fight, who lead, who stand for rights. They listen, they laugh, they support, they fight - like a Bitch.
I'm playing one of only two characters in the show that were originally written as women, and I feel the difference in their portrayal. Vulnerable, silent, obedient, emotional, beautiful, this was the ideal...and they were often viewed as weak. As I read and re-read the script I am continually struck by their strength. How active listening takes so much wisdom and courage, how holding space for your family takes the utmost strength, how wearing your emotions on your sleeve takes tremendous heart, and how being vulnerable is the ultimate act of honesty. Fight like a Bitch, yes, I will thank you...and as I fall more in love with the army of incredible women in the room with me everyday, I see the fullness from all sides. There are infinite ways to be a woman, and every one of them in their authenticity are absolutely perfect. Thank you "Coriolanus" team.
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| Photo by Valera Vulfson |
https://www.facebook.com/RebelKatProductions/
http://coriolanusfightlikeab.bpt.me/
https://twitter.com/seacoriolanus
https://www.broadwayworld.com/seattle/article/CORIOLANUS-FIGHT-LIKE-A-BITCH-Announces-Cast-20170810
#FightLikeABitch #Seattle #Arts #AllFemale #Shakespeare #SEAThtr
