Above left, Arlene Frank, Womencenter Director, introduces the troupe; Center-Aphra Behn and Josephine Baker; Right-Julia Child; Below-Julia Child takes on a Sarah Palin impression.

Guerrilla Girls rock the house at OCC

  They skewered Broadway, George W. Bush, John McCain and Sarah Palin and blasted conservative values, but in the end, a photo of Pope Benedict XVI really shook up Friday night's free performance by Guerilla Girls at Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills.
  Each member of this traveling band takes on the identity of a famous woman artist, sharing her story as a way to promote their herstory. The women wear masks throughout the performance to take attention away from themselves and emphasize issues of discrimination and racism. One of their biggest targets has been a theatre industry itself, and its failure to support women playwrights.
  In New York City theatre in 1908, 12.8 percent of plays produced were written by women. By 2008, that figure actuall dropped, to 12.6 percent. Women are also not well represented in Detroit theatre, according to a bit of Guerilla Girls research. Of 41 shows produced by eight local repertory theatres this season, only six were written by women.
  The show's emphasis on current events included references to "conscientious objector" pharmacists, who refuse to dispense birth control, and the issue of gay marriage, illustrated by a slide showing President George W. Bush and the Pope standing arm in arm. During the Q&A that followed the show, a woman asked whether there was room in feminism for those who oppose abortion.
   "Your choice is your choice," said Aphra Behn (1640-1689), the first professional English author. "You can be anti-abortion, if you also respect my choice."
  In the exchange that followed, the audience member said she was "deeply offended" by the depiction of the Pope, as well as "cross-talk" that included a man calling out criticism of the Catholic church with regard to the abuse of children. The escalating shouting match ended when the woman left Smith Theatre, despite the pleas of others to stay and "have the conversation."
   "We get heckled quite a bit," Aphra Behn acknowledged. Part of the Guerilla Girls act featured a reading of letters they've received, including one death threat.
   Another audience member asked for more detail about the absence of women playwrights. Aphra Behn said Guerilla Girls research showed the numbers for men and women studying writing are about equal, but women begin to lose numbers as they move higher up in their profession.
   "As you go up and there's more money involved, that's where you find more sexism," Aphra Behn said.

Guerrilla Girl bios
Aphra Behn
After the death of her husband, she became an English spy in the Dutch Wars (1665-67), adopting the pseudonym Astrea, under which she later published much of her verse. By 1670, her first play had been performed, and by 1677, she gained her much desired fame. All her play are noted for their broad, bawdy humor, and she was as famous for her life-style and denial of woman's subservience to man, as for her work.
Josephine Baker (1906-1975)
Born Freda Josephine McDonald, she began touring the U.S. with two bands in 1919. A huge success, she combined performance skills with a talent for comedy. It wasn't until she left the American stage and moved to Paris than Josephine's career too an incredible turn. In addition to entertaining the troops during World War II, she also served as a correspondent for the French Resistance.
Julia Child (1912-2004)
After enrolling in Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School at the age of 36, Julia became the darling of American television in 1963, with the birth of "The French Chef," the first of her many award-winning cooking shows. A prolific author of cookbooks, she received a number of honorary degrees and was awarded the Ordre de Merite Agricole in 1967 and the Ordre de Merite Nationale in 1976. She is co-founder of the American Institute of Wine & Food.
* All bios courtesy the Guerilla Girls on Tour.

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