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Suzi Got Her Lips Tattooed

    Transcript of above

    One of the better works was Suzy Got Her Lips Tattooed by Far Fetched Productions, also in part by a student cast.  Last performance is Friday at Buddies.  Writer/actor Sandra Jensen-Kabayama and writer/director Brenda McFarlane collaborated with the cast on a series of fast-paced sketches dealing with male/female tensions around such issues as sex beauty and power.

    Two scenes stand out for their honesty and raw emotional power.

    The first is the strongly acted story of 16-year-old virgin Chris (Michael Anderson), whose lack of sexual prowess is making him an outcast in a school locker room.  When he meets 14-year-old Jenny (Elinor Holt), his need to “score” outweighs all else. It’s the story of a nice guy who becomes not so nice.

    Equally good is a scene between Eric Kever Ryle and Alda Neves.  This classic date rape scene deals with the psychological intimidation preceding the physical violence.

    Transcript of above
    Suzi  NOW review by John Kaplan

    Some alternative companies attract festival audiences with intriguing show titles and never deliver the goods, Suzy guarded statue — the line refers to a woman who’s had her lips were drawn so she can appear more perfect man — succeeds as a hard-hitting series of skits that look at images of the ideal woman and a growing female anger around male attitudes towards women while the material is in startling its presentation is fresh and often sharp. The fast-moving production directed by co-author Brenda McFarland, clearly captures the self-denial, ears and self-hatred that women are forced into when they feel they don’t meet the (male) standards of society. The sketches involving the male characters in a growing awareness of double standards don’t carry quite the same punch a number of performers have a chance to shine including Susan McClay as the bulimic woman whose private moments are worse than Hal and made a Winkler as first a construction worker was made over into a Barbie clone and later a performer who reinvents the tale of Lilith

    Suzi Got Her Lips TattooedTheatrum Magazine
    Excerpt from:  Theatrum Magazine

    Review of Suzy Got Her Lips Tattooed

    Issue number 30

    by Beverly Taft

    Suzy Got Her Lips Tattooed, a collective,  presents a series of vignettes intended to enlighten the audience about the causes of male violence against women. The show was slick, well paced and the actors move from one character to the next with relative ease.  One moment that struck a chord:  a woman passes three men in a bar and one of them jeers, “Nice ass, baby. ”  She turns and politely asks that he refrain from making comments about her physical appearance.  He agrees, but when she turns again he repeats his comment. Her response is to turn around, open her purse, pull it down and shoot him. The audience, mainly women, cheered loudly upon seeing one of their common fantasies acted out on stage.  Another sequence in which all the women cross the stage in a variety of slinky and revealing outfits is far too long to be effective satire of rock videos and fashion shows and although titillating, doesn’t teach us to look at women’s bodies in a new way, particularly because the bodies are all young, firm and model-esque. In general, Suzy was more successful at entertaining than at enlightening.

    Image is of Susan McClay

    Suzi  NOW review by John Kaplan

    Some alternative companies attract festival audiences with intriguing show titles and never deliver the goods, Suzy guarded statue — the line refers to a woman who’s had her lips were drawn so she can appear more perfect man — succeeds as a hard-hitting series of skits that look at images of the ideal woman and a growing female anger around male attitudes towards women while the material is in startling its presentation is fresh and often sharp. The fast-moving production directed by co-author Brenda McFarland, clearly captures the self-denial, ears and self-hatred that women are forced into when they feel they don’t meet the (male) standards of society. The sketches involving the male characters in a growing awareness of double standards don’t carry quite the same punch a number of performers have a chance to shine including Susan McClay as the bulimic woman whose private moments are worse than Hal and made a Winkler as first a construction worker was made over into a Barbie clone and later a performer who reinvents the tale of Lilith