"Rebel With a Cause"--Chicago Stage and Cinema
It’s the 1939 Academy Awards, Bette Davis is nominated for Best Actress, but the LA Times leak the winners early. DAVIS LOSES. A fuming Bette storms out of the Oscars! Fasten your seat belts & come along for this bumpy ride as you watch Bette’s most defining moments as this tenacious star fights her way to the top!
Hollywood icon Bette Davis broke the glass ceiling for women in the entertainment industry. Trapped by the movie studios who owned her, Bette wrestled with movie moguls, and fought against their unfair system of low pay and meager roles. See Bette triumph over the studio heads’ misogyny to win starring roles and compensation on par with her male counterparts. Her story inspires and empowers audiences to fight for fair and equitable treatment, and to never let themselves be defined by someone else’s expectations!
Actress and playwright, Jessica Sherr, powerfully channels Bette Davis in her fight against the male-dominated studio system. On the night of the 1939 Oscars, Bette returns home knowing she’s to lose Best Actress to Vivien Leigh’s Scarlett O’Hara, because the press has leaked the winners. Miss Davis takes us on the bumpy ride of her tumultuous rise, as this tenacious actress fights her way up the studio system to reach the top of her profession.
Through conversations with her mother Ruthie, scenes of her friendship with Olivia De Havilland, her love affairs with revered film director William Wyler and eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes, her dysfunctional relationship with her daughter, her four failed marriages, her groundbreaking court case with Warner Brothers (which she lost), and being subject to ageism in Hollywood, we experience Bette’s most defining and most vulnerable moments: her courageous battle against sexism and inequity.
Bette Davis Ain't For Sissies, directed by Drama Desk Award Winning Karen Carpenter, gives audiences a humanizing experience into the mind of a global icon whose voice could not remain silent. Her battles and victories were generations ago, but her story is an inspiration for today, empowering audiences to stand up and fight for what they believe in. Forever!
Jessica made her international debut at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and received an offer for a run at St. James Theater in London. The show’s success continued with two successful 4-week runs in Chicago and over 400 performances across 25 states and 3 countries. Notably, the Bette Davis Estate even gifted Jessica with a pair of Miss Davis’ scarf, gloves, and earrings to wear during her captivating portrayal. Jessica feature film script, BETTE, based off her solo show, was a finalist for ScreenCraft, Top 10% Nicholls Fellowship, Finalist for Scriptapalooza.BDAFS had it’s international debut at The Edinburgh Fringe 2013 and returned to The Assembly Rooms to SOLD OUT audiences 2014 and 2015 .
BDAFS is repped by Downstage Entertainment and is currently touring the show in Performing Arts Centers around the country ranging from 500-1000 seats. She offers outreach and Master Classes to communities and hopes to inspire all people to stand up and fight for what you believe in!
Written and Performed by Jessica Sherr
Directed by Karen Carpenter
