BWB FAQ

·Where did the name Babes With Blades come from?

The fevered imagination of founder Dawn "Sam" Alden.
The title is deliberately tongue in cheek. Of all the examples of women warriors on stage and screen that Alden had seen, very few were expanded beyond the bombshell in a fur bikini that got to throw a few punches before being rescued by the male hero. Alden wanted a title that both teased this stereotype but also re-claimed the idea of the beauty in the fierceness of a woman. Strong women are beautiful, regardless of their physical shell, and so the women in the company claim the title as well as comment upon it.

· When was Babes With Blades founded?

Dawn "Sam" Alden began the process in January of 1997. BWB was originally conceived as a two-day presentation of fights and monologues entirely assembled by the cast members. By inviting an audience of Chicago's artistic and casting directors to the initial showcase, presented in May of 1997, we intended to introduce our audience to the wealth of talent and skill that was lying fallow, with the hopes that they would then be inspired to create projects involving stage and film fighting roles for women. When our pre-show publicity hit the papers (and every paper in town ran a story!) we were deluged with calls from the general public asking for tickets. We sold out within a few days, then added two more performances which also promptly sold out. That was when the light bulb went on: why not help remedy the lack of fighting roles for women by producing an all-female fight show of our own?

· How many shows have you done?

Over the years, the Babes have performed one showcase, eight full shows, a live chess match, and countless outreach programs, as well as hosting stage combat workshops and a New Plays Development Program. In addition, in 2005, The Babes founded Joining Sword and Pen, an international playwriting competition. Most recently, the Babes staged the critically-acclaimed The Girl in the Iron Mask.

· What weapons do you use?

Our members are trained to use swords of all kinds, from the meter-long broadsword, to the curved katana, to the delicate smallsword; a variety of sticks, from quarterstaffs to Filipino doublestick; knives and daggers; and found objects from shoes to trash can lids. We've fought with corn-nuts and couches, mashed potatoes and powder puffs - whatever is appropriate to the scene. We also fight unarmed.

· What is Stage Combat? Can you make a living doing it?

Stage combat is the art of creating the illusion of violence, most commonly for stage, but also for film (where it is often called 'fight direction' or 'stunt direction'). While some few do make a living performing, teaching, and choreographing stage combat, it is more typically regarded as another skill in a professional actor's bag of tricks, like singing or dance.

·Do you cast men?

The Mission of our theater company is to provide opportunities to women in the field of stage combat, as there are so few opportunities out there. We highly value our relationships with the many talented and supportive men who've crossed our path, and we don't rule out mixed gender projects in the future - however, at the moment, in order to best fulfill our Mission, our shows are all-female.

· What historical evidence do you have that women fought?

Visit our blog: http://babeswithblades.org/wordpress/?m=200503

· Does your work glamorize violence?

As our mission indicates, by exploring theatrical violence as a storytelling tool and as a means to entertain, educate, and enlighten, we challenge traditional expectations, push personal limitations, and celebrate the historical role of the woman warrior and her modern evolution. There's a lingering sense that strength and power are inappropriate in women - we seek to transcend that limitation. But ours is a cooperative discipline - in no way do we condone gratuitous violence. Stage combat requires cooperation with your partner in order to work and is not competitive or combative, despite the name. It's a dance rather than a fight.

 

· Do you teach/choreograph/make special appearances?

Absolutely - we can tailor a program to your needs. Contact our Education Coordinator at fringe@BabesWith Blades.org.

· Do you accept script submissions?

In conjunction with our semi-annual playwriting competition, Joining Sword and Pen, we regularly issue a call for scripts containing fight roles for women centered around a specific theme:
http://www.babeswithblades.org/competition.htm In addition, through our New Plays Development Program, we help writers workshop scripts that offer fighting roles for women. If you wish to submit a script, please consider the following guidelines:
-BWB is an all-female company
-BWB seeks to promote strong, positive female role models
-BWB is a fight company. We want fights! We are planning to create a library on our website listing all of the scripts we have amassed that offer fighting roles for women, including script snippets and contact information for obtaining rights of production. We want to become facilitators for other women fighters around the globe to get the same opportunities we provide to our own company members.

 

· Can you recommend a script/scene/book about women warriors?

If we had a nickel…. Check out the Babes "Maul" at www.babeswithblades.org/support.htm, and our database of women warriors at www.babeswithblades.org/database.htm. We're currently building a script library as well. We are also working on publishing a collection of the entries from our first playwriting competition, which would provide access to many new plays with fighting roles for women.