‘The Girl Stories’ explores gender at the Waldron

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, writer and performer Danielle McClelland explored the roles and issues around gender in the one-person performance called “The Girl Stories” at the John Waldron Arts Center. \nMcClelland wrote, directed and performed the play, which explores issues of sexuality in a way meant to entertain people of all sexual orientations.\n“I really wanted to explore the issues around gender and ambiguity,” McClelland said, “my own and other people’s.”\nThe production featured five different monologues with videos between. Each monologue represented a different character, including a fairy-tale princess and a lesbian. \nPart of the creative process for her, McClelland said, was defining her muses, which included the burly hard-rock lesbian and a little girl in a pink and frilly dress. However, each character did not have an easily defined gender.\n“The main thing I wanted people to think about is that the characteristics that we attribute to femininity are very often devalued,” she said, “I wanted to examine the places that they are uncomfortable, and the ways in which people cut themselves off because we assign them femininity.”\nThe five chapters in the play were “The Fairytale,” “The Pornography,” “The Ghost Story,” “The Ritual,” and “The Sermon.” In “The Fairytale,” the fairy godmother grants Cinderella’s wish in very unique and different way. “The Pornography” is a story in which a lesbian talks about her best friend and their experiences together growing up. In “The Ghost Story,” a little girl who raises questions of personal identity is haunting a lesbian biker. “The Ritual” portrays a healer who tells of a story of a gay man. “The Sermon,” the last to be performed, is spoken by a preacher who explores the ways in which a person can be defined as “femme.”\nThe last chapter was an interesting way of thinking of the concept of femme, audience member Jim Johnson said.\n“(It was) encouraging for anyone to be more femme,” he said. \nThe play was impressive, with a wide range of emotions, audience member Barry Magee said. Each of us gets to know little pieces at a time with the complexity of identities, so when something like this is capsulated, you can see so much more, Magee said.\nIn between the chapters, there were movie segments in which people around the country wore a frilly pink dress doing all sorts of things from shopping to having dinner with friends. Along with the video segments, there was a graffiti wall where people were asked to write or draw: “What does your girl look like?”\nThe play affected both straight and gay people, McClelland said. The most powerful responses she has received were from straight men, because the characters are more male-identified and the fear of being feminine is more common among men than women, she said.\n“I hope there is healing for someone who has always wanted to wear frilly pink dresses, and feel that they have to apologize for that and not enjoy the femininity,” McClelland said. “If you like pink, frilly dresses, you should never be ashamed of it.”