Since their retreat to Moosilauke early in the term, this summer's Untamed Shrews have had more opportunities to get to know each other than in past terms and these efforts should pay off at their performances tonight and Saturday night.
Feeling more comfortable
While many Shrews said this term was not extremely different from past terms, they said they became comfortable around each other more quickly than they have in the past.
"We've bonded. We concentrated a lot at the beginning of the term at getting to know people," Shrew member Reem Tarazi '97 said. "It used to be that we didn't really get close until the end when we would get stressed out together."
Shrew member Robyn Murgio '97 said she thought the retreat helped the women feel more comfortable with each other because they got a chance to be with each other away from Dartmouth and to talk about things that did not directly relate to the Shrews.
With just '97s in the group this term, some members say they automatically felt closer to everyone.
"Having all '97s is nice because we've had experience seeing them do work on campus which gives you a higher comfort level," Shrew member Cat Weiss said. "We felt freer to discuss and be open with each other."
This summer, there are 15 shrews -- about the same number as during other terms. Having a group made up of only '97s may explain the Shrews large turnout in proportion to the number of women on campus during the summer.
"It provided an atmosphere where you knew there were going to be women just from your class, so women may have felt more comfortable trying this," said Tarazi, who has been a member for four terms. "If you don't know a lot of women in the Shrews, you may think you need to be theatrical and that turns people away who don't have the talent they think they need."
Murgio said as a freshman she did not feel as comfortable as they would have liked to, but the group is now trying to prevent new members from feeling that way.
This term's shows
While every show is different from previous ones, each one tends to focus on a few issues, Murgio said.
"This term we're dealing with abortion, breast cancer, women's empowerment and women feeling comfortable with themselves," she said. "We talk about how it's okay to be angry. It's okay to fight."
While past shows have focused on concrete issues that affect women, the summer shows will emphasize more abstract concerns, Tarazi said.
"It's an empowering show," she said. "Instead of talking constantly about women as victims, we're talking about them as survivors --women who are responding positively to a society that makes it hard for them to do so."
Weiss said one misconception audiences often have about the Shrews' shows is that the group has an agenda.
"Our shows are always varied, but people think we have an agenda," she said. "Our show becomes what it is from the things we find. We're often criticized fornot covering a specific topic."
Weiss said members find pieces in the library, classes, outside reading and sometimes from classmates.
"After doing it for a term, your eyes are always open," she said.
Tonight's performance is at 7 p.m. at Kappa Chi Kappa fraternity and Saturday's performance is at 2 p.m. in Collis Commonground.
The planning stages
The Shrews have no designated leaders. Murgio said there are women who organize meetings and make posters, but those roles just tend to evolve. She said she sees this form of lack of hierarchy as a strength of the Shrews.
Weiss said sometimes members disagree over whether or not the group should do a certain piece, but they discuss it and try to reach a consensus.
The Shrews spend the first six weeks of meetings looking for pieces they might want to put in their show and discussing the pieces at each meeting, Tarazi said. They spend the last few weeks selecting the pieces they like best and putting the show together.
"The women in the Shrews are really strong women with lots of different ideas,"Tarazi said. "We're not there to make a political statement."
She said being part of the Shrews gives her the opportunity to discuss a lot of issues she would not otherwise get a chance to talk about.
Murgio said her favorite part of the meetings is discussing issues she feels strongly about.
"You get to meet with agroup of concerned women for at least an hour twice a week," she said. "It makes me think."
Performing
The show is the Shrews' opportunity to communicate to the College the ideas raised in discussions at their meetings.
Murgio said she looks forward to the shows because she feels they are her opportunity to do something for issues about which she feels strongly.
"The purpose of our shows is to really make people try to question things that they've done or someone has done to them or they have seen someone else do," she said.
Tarazi said she feels the discussions after the shows are very important.
"I get a lot out of the show and discussion afterward," Tarazi said. "Without discussion, it wouldn't be as effective."
But Murgio said the discussions are very unpredictable and can get frustrating when the audience would rather criticize the Shrews than discuss the issues the group put forth.
Spring term, Shrew member Kari McCadam '97 started an Untamed Shrews at University College in London as an independent project for her English foreign study program.
McCadam created the organization, obtained University recognition, recruited members, put together a show and performed it with the other two members of her group in Hyde Park and in the student union.
She said the Hyde Park performance was very "empowering" but the Student Union performance "was not well received. The students were not ready to hear what we had to say."
McCadam said while she learned a lot from the reactions her performances received in London, being back at Dartmouth and performing with 14 other women makes her feel like she is in a more stable environment in which she can feel stronger.
