Baggy Hag

Baggy Hag was formed about a month after the '79 United Women's Convention. Janet Elepans — singer, Fiona Johnstone — dancer/actress, and Patricia Webster — pianist, had performed there as part of the group ISIS. In their piece they had conveyed the good and bad of the "feminine" attributes of nurturance, using music and dance.

Pamela Gray — cellist and singer, contacted them, and with Gail Pittaway — actress/musician, and Sarah Yaldwyn — actress, and a short while later Stephanie Arlidge — singer, the group was formed.

It was agreed that it should not only be a performing group conveying women's experiences, but that it would also act as a self-help group for the women themselves, so that untapped talent could be developed to some extent, as well as developed talents being supported.

Pamela Gray, Fiona Johnstone, Sarah Yaldwyn, and Janet Elephans work fulltime on the Wellington Community Arts Council temporary employment scheme, while Patricia Webster and Gail Pittaway are secondary school teachers, and Stephanie Arlidge is a music student.

Experimental improvised music and singing is a strong part of Baggy Hag's presentation, and 2 or 3 pieces using this and dance will be presented in the W.R.C. performances. Next one: Fri 28 Sept.

Baggy Hag will also be performing at the Suffrage Day Celebration Concert, Wednesday September 19.

Sisters

We were nine women interested in forming an alternative theatre group. We all knew one another so had an initial understanding which we could build on. Some of us were full-time actresses and all of us interested in drama of a self-developing nature. Our first objective for the opening of the W.R.C. was a performance that would reach women personally through acknowledgement of the frustrations and restrictions placed on women in an oppressive society.

For this piece we choose Violence, feeling that this covered a broad view of the problems experienced by women today.

Violence, as one woman has seen it, represented the powerful grip of conditioned attitudes from which we are all struggling to free ourselves.

Violence was later performed at the Good Times Rock Theatre, this time to a mixed audience. Both performances evoked feedback, women especially finding the performance meaningful to them as individuals. The Rock Theatre showed mixed reactions demonstrating to us that some people found our ideas threatening, enforcing really that we had hit upon some very real attitudes and emotions.

With both Violence and the theme we are working on at present, we have chosen to take an individual approach, meeting as a group to develop and piece together our personal interpretations. Working in this way we have found that a strong feeling amongst us has developed.

We hope that this tells you a little more than the trivial impressions created by the article in the Dominion on Sisters.

Since our last performances two of our members, Lindley Turnball and Lindy Hathaway have left, with Ann Robinson, Lorraine Ward, and Rachel Griffin joining us. The rest of us are:

Di Looney, Victoria Boyack, Tennessee Lindsay, Debbie Graham, Jane Black, Clare Ramsden, and Shelly Graham.

On Women's Suffrage Day (Sept. 19) Sisters are performing at Victoria University. Watch for posters.