By Conor Rowell
Photos by Dain Sandoval
The year was 1992; the USSR was beginning to collapse, Jay Leno took over Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show,” and first-time director Quentin Tarantino released the film Empire Magazine dubbed, “The Greatest Independent Film of All Time”: Reservoir Dogs. The film has gone down in history as a true cult classic and its quotes can be heard many a nights in the backroom of Duffy’s. And it was about 12 years ago when Erica Sorenson had the original idea to adapt the film for the stage. Erica, who recently finished her run in the Chico Cabaret’s Angry Housewives, explains how many nights she watched Reservoir Dogs and loved every minute of it. She soon had a strange idea: what if the gender-roles were reversed and the women were the ruthless robbers and murderers? And so, Reservoir Dolls was born.
Upon entering the Blue Room, women yelling can be heard from the dressing room while a lowly stagehand brings 2 rolls of duct tape, matches and a gasoline tank on to the stage. Soon, as if the George Baker Selection’s “Little Green Bag” was playing, the Dolls bound out of the back room. The first Doll I talk to was Samantha Perry who plays the eccentric Ms. Pink. Sitting in her iconic black suit and tie, she laughs that this must be one of the only times someone requests to play a Steve Buscemi character. Perry is proud that the women in the play aren’t catty or anything like those Desperate Housewives, but actually a refreshing view on tough women. During the interview, she takes off her high heels, which causes me to mentally laugh at the fact that the only feminine part of the outfit is simultaneously the most painful.
The least intimidating person in the show, as well as the only male, was Jeremy Votava; who is also directing the show. This is one of my favorite movies, he says, and I’m very happy to say that we have stayed very true to the film. After hearing about the idea proposed by Erica, Jeremy was quick to point out that a guy’s perspective would be pertinent; especially concerning some of the male humor. As for some of the iconic scenes from the film, he promises the diner scene is nearly perfect; though there was a debate on the Madonna song dialogue. “No of course they’re going to talk about penises,” Jeremy explains, “It’s not like women just sit around and talk about vaginas as much as we talk about penises.”
The stage has been set up in preparation for Reservoir Dolls for a while now. The stage was shared for Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog, which just wrapped up September 26, and Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead. Upon seeing a ramp when I saw the latter over the weekend, my mind automatically thought, “Oh that’s where Ms. Orange must be dying.” I wish I could speak more of the set but many of the set pieces were not in place during the interviews but the crew has promised a full-furnished performance.
Another thing about the performance is that “it’s not for the faint of heart,” Erica warns with a wicked smile. C-bombs, f-bombs, fighting, blood and guns are what audience members get to expect from the upcoming show.
Diehard fans, like much of the cast and crew as well as myself, will be pleased to know that the original Reservoir Dogs’ soundtrack will be used during each performance. “The music is such a huge part of the film and we wanted to keep that in our show.” Even the Steven Wright song introductions are key in an adaptation like this.
But from every person I talked to, one point kept coming up: this is a very empowering play for women. “Theses women are badass.” Jeremy concludes. But from what I saw it wasn’t the women playing badasses, they were badasses. The Dolls don’t playfully act as Tarantino characters, they are almost sicker than their on-screen counterparts. One scene in particular has been modified to bring a sense of sexual torture instead of just the fear; adding new darker elements to the script. If you don’t believe women can be killers, come meet the Reservoir Dolls and find out for yourself.
A brilliant script written by and performed by a Tarantino-approved cast leaves this critic with high hopes and an urging need to watch that film again. And Ms. Orange summed up the reason why you should see it: “It’s the perfect date show: your girlfriend can feel empowered and your boyfriend can see some ass-kicking!” Reservoir Dolls runs October 1st – 17th at 10:30 with a possible benefit show on the 18th.
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