Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, October 28, 1999, Page 2B, Image 18

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‘Dia de los Muertos’
■ ‘Anarchist feminist
collective’ performs women’s
life experiences at eclectic
local and out-of-town venues
By YaelMenahem
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Fierce Pussy Posse Cabaret
Theater Company, a self-pro
claimed “anarchist feminist col
lective,” is spreading its message
across Eugene.
The group performs at different
venues around town, including
John Henry’s, Mother Kali’s
Books and Tsunami Books. The
company made a two-hour ap
pearance on campus Oct. 11 dur
ing National Coming Out Day cel
ebrations.
Although the core number in
the group shifts between eight to
10 members, G.L. Morrison,
who’s been with the group for
more than a year, was the only
member who agreed to speak
with the Emerald. She explained
that all the women in the group
are supportive of each other’s
work and don’t deny each other
the right to speak to the media.
However, most women in the
Posse declined to be interviewed
because they feel that misrepre
sentations and misquotes in past
media coverage distort the
group’s overall message.
The company performs two or
three times a month around Eu
gene, Morrison said, and in No
vember will venture to Washing
ton for a show in Seattle. A show
usually consists of poetry read
ings, short skits and songs by dif
ferent members.
Morrison said she is aware that
a bar like John Henry’s, where
mostly uninterested, usually
drunk men hang out, is not al
ways the most friendly place for
her group to talk about women
and minority’s rights, even when
supporters turn out for the show.
She pointed out that the situa
tion is a mixed blessing since the
group gets to perform, yet a por
tion of the crowd is not receptive
to the performance art.
During one performance at
John Henry’s, one Posse member
brought her childhood furniture
onto the stage and smashed them
into pieces with a baseball bat.
Another time, a member wore a
prom dress and applied her make
up in a way that simulated a
bruised face, as if she had been
beaten by her partner. The
woman then sang a version of
Olivia Newton-John’s “Hopeless
ly Devoted to You.”
There is no set performance
schedule during a show, rather
Posse members rotate during the
set. Audience reactions are usual
ly mixed due to such harsh per
formances by the members, Mor
rison said.
“It takes a lot of courage to
stand on stage to present your
opinion, whatever your opinion
is,” Morrison said. “Every show is
completely unique.”
Group members meet before
each show to discuss what will be
performed, but the show is spon
taneous with each member per
forming what she has written.
When the Posse performed on
campus, one member, Annabelle,
performed a song about abortion
after hearing about the anti-abor
tion demonstration in the EMU.
Dressed in black with dyed green
hair, Annabelle yelled into the
microphone “kill the fetus / you’ll
have a better home in the sky,”
which prompted mixed reactions
from some observers.
“I thought that the fetus song
was a little too much,” sopho
more biology major Leah Rosin
said. “I wasn’t offended by it, but I
thought it was as bad as the
demonstration that was going on
earlier today as far as being graph
ic.”
Danna Brownell disagreed and
said she thought that the song
wasn’t presented to spark conver
sation about abortion.
“Obviously it’s not meant to be
taken entirely seriously, but to
prove a point," she said. “It’s
preaching to the choir, it’s not
meant to change minds.”
The entire performance im
pressed Brownell.
“I think it’s awesome to see
women who aren’t afraid to be
loud and take up space and say
what they think,” Brownell said.
Morrison said that is the
group’s ultimate motivation.
“Mostly it’s not a money-mak
ing venture, the object is art,” she
concluded.