Babes With Blades
Encyclopedia
Babes With Blades is a Chicago-based all-female stage combat
theatre
company.
Since the late 1990s, the company has worked with other Chicago-based arts organizations to develop resources and promote awareness in the field of women's stage combat. Two collaborations with Chicago Dramatists resulted in new scripts written for female actor-combatants, and Babes With Blades' own playwriting initiatives (Joining Sword and Pen and New Plays Development Program) continue to generate new works focused on female characters in strong, complex dramatic and comedic roles. In addition to theatrical productions, the company's promotional and educational projects include stage combat and acting workshops, appearances at festivals and in the media
, newsletters and demonstrations.
roles for women.
The inaugural theme was proposed by Society of American Fight Directors Fight Master David Woolley, inspired by Emile Bayard
’s painting entitled An Affair of Honor, depicting a duel between two women on a secluded country road.
Since inception, the competition has been held bi-annually, with the winning play receiving the Margaret Martin Award and being produced as part of the company's theatrical season. All entries are inspired by particular works of art chosen for the competition, and must have women in most or all of the primary roles, and featured in most or all of the combat.
Stage combat
Stage combat is a specialized technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet productions. The term is also used informally to describe fight choreography for other...
theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
company.
History
In 1997 Dawn "Sam" Alden staged four performances billed as Babes With Blades: An Evening of Women Wielding Weapons as a showcase for female stage combatants in the Chicago area. Thereafter, Babes With Blades was formally incorporated as a theater company whose mission statement read:
"...to expand opportunities for women in the world of stage combat. By exploring theatrical violenceViolenceViolence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
as a storytellingStorytellingStorytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
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 warriorWarriorA warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
and her modern evolution."[1]
Since the late 1990s, the company has worked with other Chicago-based arts organizations to develop resources and promote awareness in the field of women's stage combat. Two collaborations with Chicago Dramatists resulted in new scripts written for female actor-combatants, and Babes With Blades' own playwriting initiatives (Joining Sword and Pen and New Plays Development Program) continue to generate new works focused on female characters in strong, complex dramatic and comedic roles. In addition to theatrical productions, the company's promotional and educational projects include stage combat and acting workshops, appearances at festivals and in the media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, newsletters and demonstrations.
Joining Sword and Pen International Playwriting Competition
The Joining Sword and Pen competition was established in 2005, in an effort to promote the writing of scripts and the production of plays with physical stage combatStage combat
Stage combat is a specialized technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet productions. The term is also used informally to describe fight choreography for other...
roles for women.
The inaugural theme was proposed by Society of American Fight Directors Fight Master David Woolley, inspired by Emile Bayard
Émile Bayard
Émile-Antoine Bayard was born November 2, 1837, in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, Seine-et-Marne. A student of Léon Cogniet, he is best known by many for his illustration of Cosette from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. He died in Cairo in December 1891...
’s painting entitled An Affair of Honor, depicting a duel between two women on a secluded country road.
Since inception, the competition has been held bi-annually, with the winning play receiving the Margaret Martin Award and being produced as part of the company's theatrical season. All entries are inspired by particular works of art chosen for the competition, and must have women in most or all of the primary roles, and featured in most or all of the combat.
Joining Sword and Pen Playwriting Competition winners
- 2011/2012: Arthur M. JollyArthur M. JollyArthur M. Jolly is an American writer.Jolly was born in Lewes, England, the son of Sir Richard Jolly, a development economist, and Lady Alison Jolly, a primatologist...
for Trash - 2009/2010: Arthur M. JollyArthur M. JollyArthur M. Jolly is an American writer.Jolly was born in Lewes, England, the son of Sir Richard Jolly, a development economist, and Lady Alison Jolly, a primatologist...
for A Gulag Mouse - 2007/2008: Barbara Lhota for Los Desaparecidos
- 2005/2006: Byron Hatfield for Mrs. Dire's House of Crumpets and Solutions and Tony Wolf for Satisfaction