Update 9-22-09

Wanted to mention this discussion of Sarah Palin in general, the reaction of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (sorry Pedro Almadovar), including a discussion of Sandra Bernhard -  the blogtalkRadio show at NoQuarter, hosted by the DC-Media Girl, and guested by Violet Socks. Use this link.  Great conversation, highly recommended.

And this statement from Bernhard on the reaction to the Palin segment:

That comment is part of a much larger, nuanced, and yes, provocative (that’s what I do) piece from my show about racism, freedom, women’s rights, and the extreme views of Governor Sarah Palin—a woman who doesn’t believe that other women should have the right to choose, even in cases of rape or incest; a woman whose administration forced the victims of violent crime to pay for their own rape kits. Women deserve better. I certainly wish Governor Palin no harm—I’d just like her to explain to me how she can hold such outrageous views…and then go back to Alaska. – Sandra Bernhard

 People who fuss over details know that both points raised by Sandra Bernhard are baseless. The first one is a personal conviction, not affecting policy; the second one has been debunked (discussed in the blogtalkradio linked above). But aesthetes agree, this does not take away from  the constructional value of it to  the art piece, peotic license. It does beg the question, by releasing just these few minutes, is the theatre’s Marketing being equally outrageous, or just fiendishly clever?

Original Post begins here:

I can’t hear you talking and having a nervous breakdown Sandra. The liberal women, feminists, progressives, and left-wing ladies are all in knots about Sarah. This is no genteel, The Best Man. No this is Sandra on Sarah, fully tweaked to tease and annoy and titillate all at the same time. They gave us a tiny clip.

Let this speak for itself.

From a discussion at the Theatre J Blog, of the space where Bernhardt is performing.

When Sandra warns Sarah Palin not to come into Manhattan lest she get gang-raped by some of Sandra’s big black brothers, she’s being provocative, combative, humorous, and yes, let’s allow, disgusting. The fact that the show has a few riffs like this does not — to my mind — make it a “disgusting show.” there’s too much beauty, variety, vitality, and intelligence to label the entire show as “disgusting.” I’ll agree with you that we produced this show because we did find it to be edgy — because we wanted to give right wing conservative Jews a good run for their money by being on the receiving end of some blistering indictments from Sandra.Does it go over the edge sometimes? On the gang-rape joke, yes. Sure. Not much else. It goes over the edge and then comes right back to the cutting edge.Finally you ask, “where is the Theater J staff and council? Where is the DCJCC administration?” They were all there on opening night, one night before you came. We partied together after. There were three members of Theater J staff at the show last night, and there’ll be more of us this weekend when we present three shows — soon to be all sold out. I was teaching a political theater class last night, but I’ll be back for everything this weekend.We’re proud of our producing – proud of Sandra’s sense of timing – taking the fight out to the house and to the street beyond, channeling so much of our rage and frustration at the bizarre recent twists of fortune since Karl Rove trotted out Sarah Palin for John McCain to briefly meet and then get in bed with.Sandra’s face is hanging 10 feet tall in a banner over the DCJCC steps and we’re proud that she’s a new emblem and ambassador for our theater and our center. She’s not the only one who represents us. But her large heart, her generous talent, and her big mouth are all a big part of who we are.

More later .. Randy Rhodes is calling.