t was the runaway hit that put alternative theater on the map in Phoenix. \u201cChicks With D–ks,\u201d a B-movie parody packed with black leather and cat fights, started out as a student project at Arizona State University, then moved downtown to Planet Earth Theatre and blew up the box office.<\/p>\n
Originally planned for three weekends in December 1997, it was extended again and again at the now-defunct venue, finally closing after three months. That kind of run is impressive enough in a theater town like Chicago or San Francisco. In Phoenix, it\u2019s practically unheard-of.<\/p>\n
The show\u2019s success spawned a sequel \u2014 \u201cChicks With D–ks II: Battle With Cannibal Sluts in Outer Space!!\u201d \u2014 and helped launch the career of Minnesota playwright Trista Baldwin, who was working on her Master of Fine Arts at ASU at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like it could run forever,\u201d says Ron May, who played Joe, aka Dog Boy, in the original production and is directing a revival at his own company, Stray Cat Theatre.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two \u2018Chicks\u2019 were the only things I\u2019ve ever been involved with that sold like that. Neither one of them closed because we ran out of people. Everyone in that cast was an ASU student, so we all hit a point where it was like, \u2018We cannot be doing this every weekend and ever pass a class.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
A new-feminist riff on 1960s sexploitation flicks such as \u201cFaster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!\u201d \u201cChicks With D–ks\u201d follows the adventures of Vespa DeAmour, a \u201cgood girl gone bad \u2026 gone better.\u201d She\u2019s a prom-queen runner-up who, via a spectacularly naughty series of events best left a surprise, ends up leading a girl biker gang, Satan\u2019s Cherries.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s super fun to have the women playing the badasses and poking fun at the gender associations that we have,\u201d says Emily Rubin, who stars as Vespa after appearing in Stray Cat\u2019s \u201cPunkplay,\u201d \u201cHeddatron\u201d and \u201cThe Play About the Naked Guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to find plays with strong female characters. Women don\u2019t get to have those meaty roles. Especially for me. I have blond hair and big boobs, so I\u2019m always playing an idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, the blond hair and etc. are assets for a role that requires lots of vampy voguing in form-fitting leather. But the real challenge performing this show is the stage combat. That\u2019s a phrase that normally evokes images of Romeo and Tybalt crossing rapiers, but in \u201cChicks With D–ks,\u201d the fight choreography (by ASU grad student Chelsea Pace) involves hair pulling, mud wrestling, body slamming and a form of martial arts invented for this satire.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a huge workout,\u201d Rubin says. \u201cI am hitting people with every section of my body. Some of them I can\u2019t tell you about or give it away. I\u2019m like, \u2018How am I going to punch somebody with that?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Just in case the title wasn\u2019t enough, that should serve as sufficient warning about the \u201cadult\u201d nature of this unabashedly juvenile comedy. But May insists it\u2019s not as \u201calternative\u201d as it sounds. There is no nudity and only PG-13-level profanity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis show is definitely not for kids, but it\u2019s not really R-rated,\u201d he says. \u201cAlthough I don\u2019t think I have a gauge anymore. I don\u2019t find anything offensive.\u201d