Ohio University Diary

Hey Diary!

'Seven Things' is an improv warm up. Some one gives you a topic and you list seven things in response to that topic, while those listening count them off for you. So here it is: the top seven things I took with me from Ohio University (with helpful links):

1) Know what you want:

http://www.guerrillagirlsontour.com/

http://ggbb.org/

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/05/30/050530ta_talk_toobin

2) Chaos is a part of life

https://www.library.ohiou.edu/newsblog/general/guerrilla-girls-and-more

3) Enjoy the little (and the big) things

http://www.ohio.edu/center/

(photos 6 and 7)

4) There are an equal number of views about feminism in the world as there are women.

http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question113116.html

5) Indulge in a purple sofa to bring out the best in you and others (I didn't get to see the sofa anywhere on the website) :(

http://www.ohio.edu/womenscenter/

6) Have a good meal

http://www.casanueva.com/

http://twitter.com/burritobuggy

7) Be heart healthy (thanks Lacey)

http://www.ghirardelli.com/products/squares_dark60.aspx

Thanks for a great time OU! xo

Edith Evans

February 24, 2011

Dear GGOT Diary,

It's been too long! This tour was my first in about 16 months. Not that I haven’t wanted to go on tour I’ve just been traveling the globe! Anyway, I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about getting back out there. This time we performed in Athens, Ohio. Weather-wise, I think we experienced everything that an Ohio winter has to offer. It rained, sleeted, snowed, and I think there was even a little hail!

Ohio University has a beautiful campus. At first glance, it's the kind of school that would immediately draw the assumption that it has a powerful football team. That assumption would be incorrect. In fact we learned later -- Ohio U. is better known for it's journalism department (shout out to Matt Lauer!).

The show went smashingly (picked that up on my solo travels) Alas, for some reason, during the "Size 2 Pants" number, I forgot some of the choreography, and almost missed bringing Aphra a set of pants! She was not very happy about that one!

After the show did our usual Q and A with the audience. Started off great. They loved the show, and enjoyed our message. Some even wanted the lyrics to "Size 2 Pants". Our student volunteer remarked that although her form of feminism is a little more extreme, she enjoyed the light and playful way that we delivered our message. Then came a comment that "Size 2 Pants" made one audience member think back (badly) to when she was naturally very under weight. It was a difficult time for her. She misunderstood that we were saying that a size 2 is a bad thing. We explained that that was not our intention, and that all we were trying to convey is that women should be comfortable in their natural bodies, no matter what size it comes in. After that all hell seemed to break loose with one journalism major after the other calling us female misogynists (how could we say things like: Think like a man… and laugh?). It was like a journalism 101 free for all mean girls exchange. We just stood there while the mud was flung. And in keeping with our policy of closing every Q and A with a positive note we stopped when an audience member stood up and accused all the journalism students of being white men in disguise. Touche!

After the show we went to dinner and the rain began. It was very dark out and the streets were almost impossible to see. We ended up driving on to a sidewalk, and almost into the Hocking river! When Aphra discovered this, she tried to reverse back onto the main road. We then got stuck in a ditch. Edith and I jumped out and tried to push the car, and were immediately covered in more mud ! OU was a real mud fest from beginning to end. We called a tow truck. The driver was very nice. He arrived in no time and pulled us out.

One has so much more adventure when traveling with a touring pack of gorillas. On to the next tour!

Love,

Josephine Baker

Athens, Ohio

Julia Child's take on our Ohio tour of "If You Can Stand the Heat...."

March 4, 2010

Dear Deezers,

Ohio. The land of farms and greetings. I am, of course, referring to the "hi" right in the middle of the oooohhh's. There's something so promising about the word Ohio for just those reasons. And Denison certainly delivered. Not just delicious pre-show wraps, chocolate and seltzer, but crackerjack smart students. I was in love with the participants in our poster-making workshop who made intelligent, provocative posters and images around issues they were psyched to tackle: gender identity, capitalism, the (il)legality of marijuana, and sexual violence. Before we worked on posters, we conducted some theatre exercises and made them become human sculptures and tableaux. They obliged willingly and enthusiastically, thus contributing to the collaboratively driven sharpee/newsprint masterpieces. Bravo participants!

Per GGOT style we braved the Bee (Applebees) and the Roo (Ruby Tuesdays) of Heath, Ohio, waking up from the daze of NYC as food paradise. I can't say I miss Ruby Tuesdays when I’m not around one but I can say that I miss the incredibly generous and articulate audience that came to see “If You Can Stand the Heat: The History of Women and Food”. Our student volunteer, (Tara) played Tammy the Tummy and got pied in the face at the end of the show. I was the culprit that had the pleasure of pie-ing her. For her, it was a total surprise. For me, it was completely gratifying. Nothing like a little dessert after some masked activism, I always say.

Another highlight of the tour was our cab driver back to the airport when all was said and done. She delivered brilliant every-five-minute saucy one-liners while we shop-talked about theatre. She was a farm girl by birth, and a cab driver by trade: it was the perfect hybrid of Ohio and NYC and a great way to cap off the trip.

Bon appetit,
Julia Child