Content warning: Mature audiences only. This production explores adult themes, rape and contains adult language.
Self-defense – the ability to protect oneself from outside harm – is often praised and held up as a value within our country. But with that value comes the inevitable question: when does an act of violence count as self-defense? When doesn’t it?
The U’s Department of Theatre is bringing such questions to the forefront with their upcoming production, “Self Defense, or Death of Some Salesmen.” Aileen Wuornos, a real-life serial killer who murdered seven men along the Florida highway and insisted upon her arrest that the men’s deaths were the result of her own self-defense, serves as inspiration for this play by Carson Kreitzer.
In this portrayal of the story, the focus is on the perceptions Jo – she is the Wuornos-like character here – faces from the media and the public it speaks to as she tries to defend herself. The judgement she receives is compounded by the fact that she is a prostitute at the time of her arrest and currently has a girlfriend.
Sydney Cheek-O’Donnell, head of Theatre Studies in the U’s Theatre Department and member of the committee that chose “Self Defense” to be a part of this year’s season, explained that a large focus of the play is on the way media shapes consumers’ understandings of the world. “A lot of this play is about how the media can shape our sense of what is and is not real,” she said, adding, “This seems particularly important right now and for this generation of college students.”
Additionally, there’s a lot of focus on the female experience, specifically as it relates to sexual abuse. Both real-life Wuornos and fictional Jo have pasts rife with sexual abuse. At the time of their arrest, both were working as prostitutes. Cate Heiner, a U student and writer at The Daily Utah Chronicle, wears a lot of hats including that of dramaturg for this play. Speaking on the play’s emphasis on those largely female experiences, Heiner said, “At first glance it seems like Carson Krietzer (the playwright) is creating almost a satire that plays on the dark humor of the story. However, as the play has evolved, it has evoked some really honest and raw emotions about what it means to be a woman, what it means to defend yourself and how we judge each other.”
Cheek-O’Donnell also mentioned the ways this play emphasizes rape culture as it questions the way Wuornos/Jo was perceived. “This play is an extremely interesting and perhaps unexpected take on this phenomenon [rape culture]. It shows us a victim of sexual violence who then reacts to it with extreme violence. The play asks us to reconsider the circumstances that have created a ‘monster.'” Cheek-O’Donnell defined “rape culture” as the fact that “Our society still tends to blame the victims of sexual assault and normalize sexual violence, especially as perpetrated by men.”
“Self Defense, or death of Some Salesmen” will run Oct. 21-23 and 27-30 at 7:30 p.m., with two matinee performances on Oct. 29 and 30 at 2 p.m. The production will take place in Studio 115, on 240 South 1500 East. Tickets can be purchased in advance at Kingsbury Hall or the day of each production. U students receive one free ticket with their ArtsPass/UCard.
Panel Discussion: October 22, 2016
Post-show Discussion: October 28, 2016