2008 Woodie Awards
'Guerrilla Girls' promote female empowerment
Bobby Feingold
Issue date: 2/28/07 Section: The Inside
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As the lights dimmed in afterHOURS last Wednesday, a voice recording played overhead: "In this theatre, the taking of photographs and the use of recording devices is strictly prohibited," the flight attendant-like voice said. "If any women in the audience begin to have a hot flash, please stand up."
Seconds later three women in Guerrilla masks charged into the room with bananas in hand.
Enter the Guerrilla Girls on Tour.
Under the stage lights, the Guerrilla Girls on Tour entertained and informed students with their brand of feminist comedy. Hosted by the Feminist Student Organization (FSO), the all-female theatre trio used songs, sketch routines and humorous slides to make a forceful political point. As they entered afterHOURS, hooting and making monkey noises, the three women threw bananas at the unsuspecting audience.
"This is the first time the audience has refused bananas," said one of the women under the alias of Gracie Allen, the female counterpart of the comedic duo Burns and Allen, whose success spanned decades.
Each of the women onstage donned a Guerrilla mask, which were black half-masks that looked like simplified versions of real ones used for battle. They each adopted the identity of a dead female artist, shifting the focus away from their individual personalities or careers. The group's purpose is to shine a light on the issues of sexism and discrimination - changing one sexist city at a time, they said.
The other two women honored Aphra Behn, a 17th-century dramatist considered one of the first professional English female writers, and Josephine Baker, a pioneer for black women on Broadway.
The Guerrilla Girls were originally an artist collective in the '80s that created controversial feminist works like the New York City posters that protested gender bias and sexism in art exhibits. The "Banana Split" occurred in the mid '90s, when the group branched into three factions that still operate under the title Guerrilla Girls.
Seconds later three women in Guerrilla masks charged into the room with bananas in hand.
Enter the Guerrilla Girls on Tour.
Under the stage lights, the Guerrilla Girls on Tour entertained and informed students with their brand of feminist comedy. Hosted by the Feminist Student Organization (FSO), the all-female theatre trio used songs, sketch routines and humorous slides to make a forceful political point. As they entered afterHOURS, hooting and making monkey noises, the three women threw bananas at the unsuspecting audience.
"This is the first time the audience has refused bananas," said one of the women under the alias of Gracie Allen, the female counterpart of the comedic duo Burns and Allen, whose success spanned decades.
Each of the women onstage donned a Guerrilla mask, which were black half-masks that looked like simplified versions of real ones used for battle. They each adopted the identity of a dead female artist, shifting the focus away from their individual personalities or careers. The group's purpose is to shine a light on the issues of sexism and discrimination - changing one sexist city at a time, they said.
The other two women honored Aphra Behn, a 17th-century dramatist considered one of the first professional English female writers, and Josephine Baker, a pioneer for black women on Broadway.
The Guerrilla Girls were originally an artist collective in the '80s that created controversial feminist works like the New York City posters that protested gender bias and sexism in art exhibits. The "Banana Split" occurred in the mid '90s, when the group branched into three factions that still operate under the title Guerrilla Girls.
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