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    Default Playwright looking for information

    I am a plawright living in Florida who is currently working on a show called STRIPPED to open at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival in February of 2006. Currently conducting interviews with dancers and other club employees,...would love to hear from some with stories/worst case situations/best case situations/how you got involved in dancing, etc.
    The piece is a DOCUDRAMA which means the information you give may well be used in the play - so by responding to this, you give free use permission for your stories to be ANONYMOUSLY used in the play within the context of the characters.
    I will maintain contact with you through this forum if I do use the information, and send you updates/responses to the play/reviews/articles/etc as well as give you credit with whatever name you choose to use (The credits will appear either as "Consultant" or in the "Thank You's in the program) - so please indicate how you want credit if your information is utilized.
    Looking for true opinions/experiences/etc. Have had the great opportunity to interview a lot of people in the industry.
    There is not particular political agenda to the piece,...it is being created from the real life experiences of those who send information or are being interviewed, so stripping is not going to be painted in a bad or good light, but in a balanced and truthful light.
    Please post information as you see fit, and I will post updates as I can.
    This is a chance to express yourself in this theatrical setting.
    Thank you, ( You can also PM me if you choose to do that instead - you may also request more information/reviews of prior docudramas/etc.)

  2. #2
    Yekhefah
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Ooh! When are you going to do a play about bank tellers? Or maybe one about tax attorneys!

  3. #3
    mermaidnz
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Quote Originally Posted by Yekhefah
    Ooh! When are you going to do a play about bank tellers? Or maybe one about tax attorneys!
    lmao

    thats pure class right there! hahaa

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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Tax attorneys no,..but my first four were about Homeless Youth, in which I interviewed about 20 individuals to create the piece, the second was about a specific program at the OC Correctional factility where I interviewed the inmates and guards/teachers/etc - the third about AIDS in the Central Florida area where I live where I interviewed those living with the disease, their caregivers, and the families,...and the fourth dealt with racial hatred where I had the opportunity to interview those with,...let us say extreme opinions,..so strippers was not merely because it seemed like a provacative topic, but because many wanted me to write it to explore the real lives, the real people, behind the images one sees.

  5. #5
    Cally
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Anyone else starting to feel like a bunch of 10th graders science projects? Seems like anyone and everyone is doing research on 'us' latley. Why dont these people go to their local SC and ask the girls there? Im done with answering questions

  6. #6
    AudreyLeigh
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    why do people always want to do movies/papers/articles about strippers? were just PEOPLE....

  7. #7
    Cally
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    No we're not audrey... we're apparently a different species to the outside world. So humans put us under their mircroscopes and study our every movement. Before you know it they are going to want skin/hair/nail/feces samples from us to see what makes us live. Little do they know its just the dollar signs above their heads

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    God/dess Paris's Avatar
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Playwright, if you have certain situations you are trying to fill in with real world details, cruise around our website, read the situations and senarios. There is enough info on this one site to write volumes about.

    Try the search feature for specific info (ie; self tanner, or thigh high boots, or stalker, or dating customers etc.).

    I know that the research will take some time, but at least you can do the research from the comfort of your own home, instead of visiting strip club after strip club, and even then maybe not getting the info you are interested in.


    Promote yourself and earn more money! This is a business that is owned by strippers for strippers. Let's make that money!


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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Sorry you feel that way, and I can understand that. But the point is, at this time we have had the ability to interview about 20 dancers and the information is invaluable to give the public an idea of the real person - this is not to glorify stripping, or to demonize it,..the whole idea is to strip to truth -
    You are on stage,...your audience has one vision of you,...you put yourself up there for this image - but just like an actor portraying a character you are a human being with wants/needs/likes/dislikes/car payments/fights with your partners/etc. Too many people forget about that,...
    I saw your responses to some of the students,...it is indeed a shame that that insulted you rather than make your realize people might just be interested in who YOU are rather than just what you do for a living. And you have to admit, that the idea of dancing in a club like this would be intriguing to a general audience.
    Theatre exists to expose truths, not to exploit them.
    Thank you to those private messaging me with wonderful thoughts and ideas - I have received them and will get back with you. Many of the things you have addressed ring very true to the face to face interviews I have been doing.
    Hope others post information, or even questions as to what this play is about, not just criticisms to those who are sincerely interested.

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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Thank you Paris -
    I have indeed been looking through the different posts and finding technical information/etc. What I am most interested in is not that however, it is in the stories I have been hearing from so many of these dancers, good and bad, that makes them who they are.
    In a docudrama we actually explore the lives behind the specific topic. For example, the play on AIDS did not just focus on the disease, but on the dreams/regrets/and day to day lives of those living with it.
    I will continue to look for information here, and thankfully have not had to hit too many clubs,...because of the nature of the piece many people have been interested and have been being interviewed.
    I appreciate your help.

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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Yes I agree Audrey,..you are just people. But others might just be intrigued by the career choice you have made, that is all.
    This piece actually is to represent exactly what you just said. To show that you are indeed just people. I have commented further in other posts to try to help people understand where and why this is coming from.
    Understand that some who ask questions or want to explore a piece in a theatrical way are merely interested and not exploiting.

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    Member TeethOfTheHydra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    I will continue to look for information here, and thankfully have not had to hit too many clubs
    Amen and Praise the Lord for not having to go to too many strip clubs.

    No one has mentioned the MAIN OBJECTION yet. Playwright, strippers get paid for their time, which includes talking. A lot of dancers around here who object to participation in field research such as this do so on said basis. Who likes to do their job for free? Not me, certainly.

    I know both sides of this story. I started my membership here because I was working on a term paper and since the girls at my home club wouldn't talk to me [for free] I thought I could maybe try some of the wonderful ladies on SW. After a few members pointed out the error of my ways, I not only understood (a) why no one here wanted to answer my questions as I was presenting them, but also (b) why none of my coworkers wanted to answer my questions, and even (c) why, in anyone else's shoes, I wouldn't want to be a research paper guinea pig unless some kind of incentive was involved.

    Here's something you can quote me on (please refer to me in the familiar in your acknowledgments; I prefer "Teef"): Dancers are a particularly incentive-driven bunch.


    Furthermore, scrupulous use of grammar and capitalization would lend more credibility to your alleged role as "playwright." Good luck with your performance art, at any rate.

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    Featured Member thechaosfairy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    I didn't see why people objected, until I started work.

    See above.

    It has NOTHING to do with objectification, or any of that. It is simply a manifestation of the "Doctor, doctor!" syndrome.

    If you are a doctor -- and normally you make fifty bucks for your advice, which is quite reasonable considering all the investment you've put into your profession -- and then you go to cocktail parties and as soon as people find out they swarm you for free medical advice, you're not going to want to give them any damn advice. You're going to want to say, "Go to medical school and find out for yourself."

    Our work includes making conversation, and when we work, we like to be paid. We put a lot of investment into our profession, perhaps not as much as doctors except in certain cases (a good boob job can set you back a bunch of money!) but hundreds, regardless, on physical upkeep, costumes, makeup, accessories, shoes, tanning or self-tanning, pheromone perfumes, house fees . . .

    I'd probably be willing to help out a student or other "tell me what it's like" visitor for only a small fee -- I'll answer surveys for not much money, and my answers are usually fairly extensive and well-written, given that I'm a graduate student in creative writing. If someone showed up on the forums, had a specific list of questions, and offered, say, $2-5 for answers -- I'd be up for it. It's not a huge investment, but it acknowledges that you are receiving some kind of service.

    Not acknowledging that is like going to a restaurant and not tipping.

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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Thank you Teef,...
    I will use that quote - very nice! I am beginning to see all that you commented on,...I guess posting here was still at least a partially good idea however because 1) I am gaining insight merely from these responses and 2) Those PM'ing me are giving me some nice feedback and especially guidance.
    I am right now seeing a different side as opposed to the response I am getting in the personal interviews. But it is all necessary to show all sides of an issue that is why it is a docudrama rathe than just a fictional work.
    No one likes being examined. However, it has happened to me many times, sometimes for my performance work,...oftentimes in a classroom setting. I have always looked at that as a way to be able to get my particular voice out. But when you put it into the context you did, it does make some sense.
    I appreciate the info!

    Also, it becomes clear that there is no way for you to know the credibility of anyone posting and asking you questions! That was called into question a bit in the above post - I am sure that is annoying and frustrating for you who come here to discuss your profession with other professionals.

    The best I can do is be as open to your questions as possible, as well as posting here a few sample reviews of past similiar works - not for bragging sake but to show legitimacy and track record. I have removed my name to keep with the anonymity of the site. Hope this helps, I am sure you have many here for all sorts of reasons, some not the most positive and I hope you can understand my intentions.

    “AIDS play gives suffering a voice, a face and a heart,. . . .(removed name – playwright) skillfully weaves the interviews into rythmic, poetic conversations, rather like the call and response of a blues song.”
    Theatre Critic; Sentinel 1/96

    (Note: Also Aids play) “(removed name – playwright) has developed the docudrama style to near perfection with this performance” – Theatre Critic, Tabula Rasa 9/26

    (Note: Play on jail programs) “In its brief hour on the stage 33rd, written and directed by (removed name – playwright), is a gem, totally engaging, absolutely entertaining, first-rate theatre. . . . . Deeply embedded in the heart of this play is its author’s ability to treat these characters with a deep affection.” Theatre Critic; Orlando Sentinel 6/95

    “I heard a dialogue that can do more for community relations than any development board, because (removed name – playwright) has done what you’ll never see a business interest do: treat (city) as a community rather than a commodity to sell to sports fans and tourists. . .The Square is the first thing we’ve seen in a long time that looks inward.”
    Columnist; The Orlando Weekly, 7/94

    Just a few to help establish. Thank you.
    playwright
    Last edited by playwright; 12-22-2005 at 08:17 AM.

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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    ChaosFairy -
    Thank you for the response as well,...it cements a lot of what Teef was saying, and in itself it is a great insight into your profession! Your "Doctor Doctor" reference was certainly humorous and right on the money from the perspective you are coming from. If you do have anything you want to share - without paying for a survey! - let me know - you have a great perspective!
    By the way, this is my introduction to the world of online forums, and you are all giving me some great training!
    All my best, and I look forward to hearing more - and if you have questions for me as well please ask!
    playwright

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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    hey playright,

    drop me a message sometime, i am an actual dancer who is trying to get in the works of my own documentary (with a different objectice then yours) but getting legal permission to film inside morec clubs than mine is a bitch.. i'd like to talk sometime, drop me a line

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    God/dess PaigeDWinter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    I am not far from Orlando. Do you do any actual sit down interviews?
    Number of times Rickrolled on stage: 6
    *******************************

    Marasmus ... "Ladies don't fart. They butt-laugh."
    Marasmus says, "Oh no, that wasn't gas, it was merely a rectal chuckle."

    Marek says, "A friend of mine got punched in the face by a dominatrix stripper about two weeks ago and I thought of you."

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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Thank you Paige and DancersRights -

    I have PM'd you with the specific information,..

    I appreciate the support! And if I do not get the chance in the next day or so due to holiday traveling/chaos - I would like to wish everyone on SW the very best holidays possible!

    Celebrate well, and Celebrate safe,...and take a moment to relax!
    playwright

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    Featured Member thechaosfairy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Playwright, I seriously appreciate your politeness. :-) I do not know that I will have time to offer info, but you can look at my posts here for my own anecdotal information, and reading the forums will probably tell you things you never thought to ask. It certainly did for me.

  20. #20
    Pamela
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    For me it's different perhaps! If you had done interviews about say positive subjects i would not mind talking a tad. But: The Homeless, AIDS etc. I see a patern that does not paint a pretty picture! Strippers....Well i guess all your topics seemed to need saving perhaps. Seriously i don't know...but i am not going along side the homless...i have been fighting them at city hall!

    Besides no one wants to hear anything we would have to say about (for example) being drug free, saving our dancing $$ for school etc. They ALWAYS say that is Bull Shit!

    That is my opinion. I have had FAR too many people want to do a quick interview with me...

    One magazine (well known) put my picture in with the caption: "she keeps banging her head" or some bull like that...yes it was me as a stripper. I did not know those words went in...but i happily signed. Live and learn.


    Good luck with your project.
    Pamela

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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Thank you Pamela for your great comments, -
    The subjects were positive - not negative, and we showed all sides of the issues. The goal is to take a subject that is polarizing - say the homeless, and be able to humanize it - it is no longer a political or a social issue then, it becomes about dealing with human beings. And so you know, none of these are agenda'd - which means I do not go in saying "I want to help the homeless" I go in saying "I want to learn about them" and then give the truth. In fact, that particular piece was far from a liberalized "let's help them" - it showed that some got into that situation due to a dire onslaught of events, but it also showed many who did not want to work within society, but were more content taking from society. The AIDS play dealt with those suffering from a disease that was misunderstood and cliched, and showed how some dealt with it in fear, some with honor, some with resolution, some with great compassion, etc.
    So why stripping? I have given some of the more personal reasons in PM's, but in general,...two experiences of mine - one that was extremely negative for the woman it touched, the second extremely positive. It is also a polarizing issue in society, which gave it the ability to be looked at from all sides. In addition, it was a world I know nothing about, so I was, as a playwright, a blank slate when it came to this issue - no agenda whatsoever.
    Just to give you some insight - I have been getting amazing information from those interviewed - some in support, some not so much, and ALL of it has helped me humanize it a bit. In outside conversations on the subject I have found myself to be much more informed as I discuss it with those involved,...it has helped me - as a general audience member if you will - to see it on that human level that is so important for it to be seen from.
    Drama does not come from the mundane I am afraid! It comes from obstacles and events that are indeed polarizing - that is where the human spirit is allowed to explore. Think of Shakespeare - he always dealt with polarizing issues - whether they be love, politics, society - he never wrote a play about the mid-income merchant who lived with his wife and 2.6 kids in a house in the suburbs and who didn't feel strongly one way or the other about anything. Intead he wrote tales of polarizing issues - Shylock in Merchant, Romeo and Juliet in their romance,...and through this exploration we touch a little on ourselves. That is what I am hoping for in this play.
    CHAOS FAIRY - Thank you for your input as well, I could not let your amazing insight go without a private and a public response. You spoke brilliantly from your position. I look forward to getting to know you more from your posts!
    Through this website I have met some amazing people who, through your support AND your well thought out comments - both positive and negative - have helped me refine my own approach to the piece! I have also met some who have either been sending me info through PMs, allowed me to browse their posts and use those, or have set up interviews with me in person! THANK YOU
    playwright
    I hope everyone had a great holiday! I am up in NY right now dragging my parents out to see King Kong finally, so all my best!

  22. #22
    Pamela
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    I hear you, and read your pm as well! Thanks.

    But, everyone in life has a choice..everyone. My saying is, if you can walk you can work! And yes the homless, people living with AIDS and HIV etc. No matter what picture is painted...these people still have AIDS, and no matter what strippers are not liked by much of the population.

    Human. Every person you interviewed is human! No matter sick or a "dirty dancing" choice for a living!

    I see that many dancers are being brought about as drug addicts and whores! Quick money for a fix, for a fucked up person.

    I don't care for interviews if they are about stripping. Because all the married women at PTA and their friends are going to say we are NOT human, but sluts!

    My opinin. Yes, love, rampage killers, serial killers they all make great topics of choice too. But never a pretty picture. As we wont...hell we don't give a shit if the man is married with a newborn child we will get naked and get on his lap...Not what society wants to hear.

    So again, we get nailed. It will never change. I hate the word Stripper, really. That is why i usually use dancer. It's not a bad word to me or other strippers or even our customers...But it sure is to alot of society...Dirty, slutty, no morals etc.

    Again my opinion.

    Pamela

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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Pamela -
    Great point about choice! We all do have choices! And one person is always intrigued by the choices that another person will make. Whether it is to learn from that choice, or to have a judgemental "There but for the grace of God go I,..." sort of feeling. We are all voyeurs in other people's lives, whether it is to watch from a distance, or emotionally involve ourselves.
    In terms of opinions of "strippers" or "dancers" - either term fits for me,...you bet there are some extreme opinions - I am sure you have to deal with those ever day,...as do many others. I have heard many of them as I have paved my way through this process (some from my own mother!)
    One of my hopes, is that by the end of this play, the women in the audience will nod silently and say to themselves "maybe I understand a little more now about another person's choices" and the men may say "wow,...there is a person under that body I stare at". The minimal expectation I have? - In the least I want both sexes to have more of an understanding even if they do not agree.
    Every woman I have spoken to so far has a very personal and subjective reason for doing what they do,...or doing what they did (many I am interviewing are retired now from the profession).
    Some are extremely positive about what they are doing, some are not. But the play will reflect all of that. That is what a documentary at its essence must do - paint all sides.
    You made another point earlier that I did not touch on - sometimes an interviewer does a disservice to their subjects by sensationalizing their subject. I strive NOT to do that in these pieces - I instead try to demystify which is the exact opposite of sensationalizing.
    One last thing, you made the great comment about getting naked in the man's lap - "...hell we don't give a shit if the man is married with a newborn child we will get naked and get on his lap...Not what society wants to hear."
    Well, the salesman at the car lot doesn't factor in your other debts, or whether you can really afford that car,...nor does any other sort of salesman. Or service provider. - The casino blackjack dealer cannot get emotionally involved with the man at the table losing money, etc. Yet society does not often have a problem with that! That to me represents a double standard! They are offering something for consumption - that is the nature of a job - and that is what dancing/stripping is as well - a job, and I hope to show that as well.
    Once again, amazing comments and great food for thought - thank you! Look forward to hearing more in the future!
    playwright

  24. #24
    Pamela
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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    I understand what you say very much. But, that car salesman is a guy that is very very easy to walk away from simply because down the road the same car with the same year, colour and wheels are available!

    A man will see a dancer and may have a very hard time walking away from that deal because the same model is not down the road! So he buys! He gets some form of attachment out of her and becomes a regular! She is REAL...but sexual.

    Is different really, imo. Selling sex, and selling cars are like Mars and Venus to me.

    Double standard you bet!

    BUT, why is it Burlesque is very much accepted and very classy (and yes some go all nude on stage) but strip clubs are "raunchy" to much of the public.

    Infamous burlesque dancers are glamourized! While dancers are "nasty'. I do not like that.

    I wish you lots of luck...really! Hope all goes very very well

    Pamela

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    Default Re: Playwright looking for information

    Pamela -
    Great Burlesque question (and one that the play will address in at least one section),...that might just be a product of history I believe.
    At the time, burlesque was very questionable in the general public's eye,...now because we can look back and see it in its historical place and significance (half the comedy we have now would not exist without burlesque) it becomes not just accepted but celebrated (one of the woman I interviewed was a third generation dancer - her mother danced and her grandmother was a feather dancer which I think is amazing!).
    So who knows how what you do is going to be looked at in 20, 30, 40 years? Will it be seen as a product of a "sinful" time, or as paving the way for sexuality in entertainment,...women's rights, ....etc. It is always hard to look at something in historical contexts while they are actually occuring.
    That car salesman is indeed easy to walk away from, and a beautiful girl dancing in front of you would be much harder I am sure to walk away from, but the idea of consumer wants (men in clubs) and service provider (dancer) transactions still holds true, and hopefully people will see it as it is - a job! Some may agree, some may disagree, but they should at least "agree to disagree" that it is a profession indeed. I am also exploring the idea of "which came first?" The need has always existed which is why the job was filled! Salome danced and they watched after all (even if it cost JtB his head!)
    Hopefully the categorizing of dancers as "nasty" will be dispelled somewhat for the audience that sees this piece. We are approaching it from a very loving standpoint, and the fact that it is premiering at the Shakespeare Festival down here gives us a sort of checks and balances - as a playwright and director, I am doing everything I possibly can to make this true theatre and truth as opposed to sensationalism for selling tickets (which I in my own approach would be doing anyway). This will truly be "theatre of stripping" and I look forward during the next month of rehearsal on what balances we discover.
    Thanks Pamela!
    playwright

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