A Geekier Direction: Rachel Klein (Part 2)

By Teresa Jusino

Ambition carried Rachel Klein to Columbia College – Chicago, one of the few schools with an undergraduate degree in theater directing, and it seemed to be the perfect environment for a young woman who knew exactly what she wanted.

“What’s cool about that place was that they didn’t really teach you. In general it was direct a scene…OK, direct a one-act….OK, direct a play. So, it was very hands-on and they didn’t really do anything to help you at the time. ‘Cause then they’d come see it and give you feedback, and then you’d have a discussion about it, which I found really helpful. I think it was the best way to learn. I don’t know that the program was actually deliberately set up that way, but the way it worked out was for the best. Because if I’d been coddled and taught to do something, I don’t know that I’d love it so much, and I don’t know that I would’ve discovered things about myself.”

While Hound was broad, steampunky farce, Go-Go Killers was a broad homage to already broad source material: gang deb b-movies. As Klein is a female director, and quite obviously feminist, I was curious about where she drew the line between empowerment and exploitation. What helped shape her confidence in being able to balance the two was contacting two of Russ Meyer’s leading ladies.

“When Sean and I were toying around with the idea of doing something like this – it occurred to us when we were watching Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! – we were like ‘I bet these women are still alive!’ So we Googled them, and we found that Tura Satana, the lead in Faster, Pussycat, is alive and well and living in Reno. Of course. She’s living. In Reno. So I emailed her, and I’m like “Hey! I’m doing this show…what do you think about it. Do you have any comments about it reflecting on your life and career…?’ And she wrote back this hilarious email that’s like ‘Yeah! Go-Go Killers! That’s awesome! And never forget that I’m the first woman to kill a man with my bare hands on screen!’ All right, Tura…”

“[Kitten Natividad] was basically [Russ Meyer’s] life partner for the last 20 years of his life. She had these enormous breast implants, and she was a burlesque dancer, and she was originally from Tiajuana…of course she was. So, I wrote her as well and I sent her the YouTube videos, and she was like ‘Go-Go! It is killer! This is great, the girls look great…” All the women who were in these films have such positive things to say about the genre, and I found that empowering. None of them look at it as ‘Oh, I was exploited because I was in my little t-shirt and I was go-go dancing and doing high kicks.” They were all kind of like ‘This is great! Keep it alive! Don’t let it die. Please, please bring it on for the next generation!’ And so, if the women that kind of created it feel that way, feel that it’s a lot of fun, that helps me with it. It [also] ties into the modern burlesque movement. It’s kind of like, we can be sexy, we can be powerful, it doesn’t need to be compensating for anything. It’s okay as long as that’s why we’re doing it. The second that it’s like Hey boys! Look at me! then that’s the wrong objective. That’s not what we’re trying to accomplish.”

It’s clear, however, that Klein already had strong opinions about people expressing their sexuality. “Linking sexuality to morality is absolutely crazy and archaic. And I don’t think it has a place unless you’re making commentary about it in the theater, or any art form. I mean, the whole point is to express ourselves. If you can’t do that then what are we doing?” She was also quick to point out that the men in Go-Go Killers were just as scantily clad as the women: “I did it to the boys too, the Go-Go boys. They were definitely wearing little man-shorts” Ah, yes. The gold, lamé man-shorts. “And they loved every minute of it!”

One of the great things about Go-Go Killers was the variety of ages and body types in the show. According to Klein, “That was totally a choice. I think that our particular culture’s idea of what is beautiful is terrible. Especially if you’ve ever seen a TV actress in person? It’s sad. It’s like, they can’t eat. They literally cannot eat. I mean, it’s good to have one of those types, and then have others. I had 20 women in the show, so if they all looked the same there would be no point.”

Klein is intelligent and opinionated, and this, in addition to her stylish wardrobe make her seem right at home in New York City.

“I’ve always seemed very New York. I seemed very New York even when I lived in an adobe house! When I’m [in Albuquerque], I have nostalgia sometimes, but in general I’m like “Wow, this is so weird.” Because it does feel like a different universe, ‘cause the Southwest is so weird to me and crazy. It’s like nothing else.” In addition to expressing her rebelliousness by sneaking down to the family basement to make costumes, she also stuck out like a sore thumb in New Mexico by falling in love with 1970s rock when she was eleven and wearing Sex Pistols shirts to school. 1970s punk is a topic about which she geeks out to this day:

“It’s one of the first things that was really near and dear to me. I’m into it not only for the music or the clothes, but also just for the movement itself. So I’ve read all the books. Like, I’ve read Please Kill Me a couple of times. I just saw Chelsea On the Rocks, the new Abel Ferrara documentary about the Chelsea Hotel. Anything involving that era, I want to know everything I can about it so that I can spit out stupid facts about bands like Oh yeah, that band broke up in 1976, and the first Punk lawsuit was in….”

And, of course, there are the b-movies. Some of Klein’s favorites for your enjoyment:

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Anything starring Vincent Price
Frankenhooker
Jack Hill movies – particularly Switchblade Sisters:

“I thought ‘why is the plot so good?’ And then I realized, this is Othello! He remade Othello with gang chicks in a high school!”

Stage Blood Is Never Enough has one more performance tonight. If you’re looking for some perfect Halloween fun, head over to The Duplex for the latest production by Rachel Klein, the reigning Queen of Geek Theater in New York.

TERESA JUSINO was born on the same day that Skylab fell. Coincidence? She doesn’t think so. As a writer, her work has appeared in Elmont Life newspaper, and on the sadly defunct website, CentralBooking.com. She is a founding member and editor of The Revolving Door Commune Blog, is currently at work on a collection of short stories, and is writing a web series for Pareidolia Films called The Pack, which is set to debut this fall! As a geek, Teresa loves all Star Trek, Lost, Fringe, comics, and anything Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, and Neil Gaiman ever touched. She is also an aspiring fangbanger. Get Twitterpated with Teresa, or visit her in The Red Room.

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