Less than one hour ago, I submitted my paper on DoppleGäng's production Oz:A Fairytale Plot. I've been thinking about this production since I saw it in September and finally decided a couple months ago that I could write about it for one of my papers. Because this program is a theory-based program, I have delved into gender theory (i.e. Judith Butler's Gender Trouble). For my own sick pleasure, I have also used Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed in my discussion.
This combination allowed me to highlight the larger social frames being subverted through the performance of sex/gender variations.
If you feel like I am taking the fun out of the gender-bending and drag glamour...you might be right. The folks in the company with whom I spoke all insisted that there was not an ideological agenda. But that's precisely why I think it was effective as entertainment: because it didn't preach. And it's power to change the way people think is by presenting these variations of gender without any fanfare or glorification. Within the performance, everything is wonderfully camp-tastic: enjoy the artifice and the frivolousness and avoid taking anything too seriously.
But taking a step back and contemplating what was so pleasurable about the performance...well, for me, that is a different kind of fun. Like a cherry on the top.
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