Here's something you might be interested in.
Roller Derby girls. Maybe you’ve seen them unwinding after a match at a neighborhood dive, celebrating rollerskate conquests over a local beer. Maybe you’ve seen posters around town or even been to a match or two and wondered, what draws a girl to this insane sport in the first place?
It was this question that lead community-based theater group Circle Circle dot dot to create a production inspired by the real-life stories of San Diego roller girls.
DerbyWise is told through the eyes of budding Roller Derby star Erika "Jezebel" Simms, whose personal trials in the all-alpha-female world of the San Diego Derby Darlings brings her to ask: is it the woman that makes the Derby, or the Derby that makes the woman?
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/mar/31/42904/
“With every show that I create the most exciting part is learning about these different communities that I often have very basic information about going into the interviewing process,” says writer and co-director Katherine Harroff.
“Our shows always start as an idea, someone suggests that we write a play about Drag Queens, LARPers, Street Artists, and then we find time in our season and start our field work that leads into the writing of the play.
“It’s exhilarating to walk into a new environment that I know little about and just have the opportunity to learn. I’ve always loved learning about people. With the San Diego Derby Dolls, Circle was welcomed into their home, invited to games, practices, and given ample access to different players and different stories.
“Those stories make up our production of DerbyWise, which turned into a character study of what it takes to be a great Roller Derby player. What we found was that it was more than athleticism, or skill- it was the ability to get over oneself and be a good teammate on top of that.
“Derby is the kind of sport where ego has to be left at the door in order to be successful. The stories that were shared with us about this journey into compassion and self-awareness really fueled our production. It was an honor to learn from the Derby Dolls and to get a glimpse of their awesome world.”
“I knew nothing about this community before we started working on this play,” says costume designer Saroya Rowley.
“I'm a pretty passive person and the derby world has a totally different mindset than mine. It is competitive and aggressive and in that way masculine. For the costumes I chose to highlight that dichotomy that lives in derby girls - the coexistence of the masculine and feminine.”
DerbyWise is not a piece about girly-girls, Harroff says.
“It's a play about strong women with strong voices finding their place in an aggressive and addictive sport. These girls are worth fearing and idolizing all at once.”
DerbyWise opens on Saturday, April 6 at The 10th Avenue Theatre (930 10th Avenue – Downtown) and runs through April 20 (Thursday – Saturday, 8 PM; Sundays, 4 PM).
Tickets: $15, $20, $25
Written by Katherine Harroff, based on stories from the San Diego Derby Dolls.
Directed by Katherine Harroff & Shaun Tuazon
Cast:
Samantha Wynn Greenstone.....Erika/ Jezebel
Kat Brown.....Jane/ Iron Maiden
Monique Hanson.....Lana/Lawless
Kathryn Byrd.....Angela/Angel Dust
Kristin McReddie.....Christina/Stab Kill
Jyl Kaneshiro.....Denise/Dee Demolition
Cory Hammond.....Kelly/Cat Scratcher
Tiffany Tang.....Tanya/Amazon
Molly Maslak.....Amanda/The Hammer
Hailee Byrd.....Jill/Craze
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/mar/31/42903/
Roller Derby girls. Maybe you’ve seen them unwinding after a match at a neighborhood dive, celebrating rollerskate conquests over a local beer. Maybe you’ve seen posters around town or even been to a match or two and wondered, what draws a girl to this insane sport in the first place?
It was this question that lead community-based theater group Circle Circle dot dot to create a production inspired by the real-life stories of San Diego roller girls.
DerbyWise is told through the eyes of budding Roller Derby star Erika "Jezebel" Simms, whose personal trials in the all-alpha-female world of the San Diego Derby Darlings brings her to ask: is it the woman that makes the Derby, or the Derby that makes the woman?
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/mar/31/42904/
“With every show that I create the most exciting part is learning about these different communities that I often have very basic information about going into the interviewing process,” says writer and co-director Katherine Harroff.
“Our shows always start as an idea, someone suggests that we write a play about Drag Queens, LARPers, Street Artists, and then we find time in our season and start our field work that leads into the writing of the play.
“It’s exhilarating to walk into a new environment that I know little about and just have the opportunity to learn. I’ve always loved learning about people. With the San Diego Derby Dolls, Circle was welcomed into their home, invited to games, practices, and given ample access to different players and different stories.
“Those stories make up our production of DerbyWise, which turned into a character study of what it takes to be a great Roller Derby player. What we found was that it was more than athleticism, or skill- it was the ability to get over oneself and be a good teammate on top of that.
“Derby is the kind of sport where ego has to be left at the door in order to be successful. The stories that were shared with us about this journey into compassion and self-awareness really fueled our production. It was an honor to learn from the Derby Dolls and to get a glimpse of their awesome world.”
“I knew nothing about this community before we started working on this play,” says costume designer Saroya Rowley.
“I'm a pretty passive person and the derby world has a totally different mindset than mine. It is competitive and aggressive and in that way masculine. For the costumes I chose to highlight that dichotomy that lives in derby girls - the coexistence of the masculine and feminine.”
DerbyWise is not a piece about girly-girls, Harroff says.
“It's a play about strong women with strong voices finding their place in an aggressive and addictive sport. These girls are worth fearing and idolizing all at once.”
DerbyWise opens on Saturday, April 6 at The 10th Avenue Theatre (930 10th Avenue – Downtown) and runs through April 20 (Thursday – Saturday, 8 PM; Sundays, 4 PM).
Tickets: $15, $20, $25
Written by Katherine Harroff, based on stories from the San Diego Derby Dolls.
Directed by Katherine Harroff & Shaun Tuazon
Cast:
Samantha Wynn Greenstone.....Erika/ Jezebel
Kat Brown.....Jane/ Iron Maiden
Monique Hanson.....Lana/Lawless
Kathryn Byrd.....Angela/Angel Dust
Kristin McReddie.....Christina/Stab Kill
Jyl Kaneshiro.....Denise/Dee Demolition
Cory Hammond.....Kelly/Cat Scratcher
Tiffany Tang.....Tanya/Amazon
Molly Maslak.....Amanda/The Hammer
Hailee Byrd.....Jill/Craze
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/mar/31/42903/