PRESS

FOR bodyBODY: YOU CAN'T TELL BY LOOKING

"As a whole, it’s a spirited and educational event. 'We just want people to be aware of the reality,' McGrady says, 'while celebrating the beauty of women. Maybe it will inspire them to take action and hopefully to have fun too.'"Seattle Magazine, January, 2005

"Now the trio is back again with another show about the pesky concern of how to love one's own (imperfect) physique. ... in the Empty Space Theatre's lobby, bodyBody's sunnier exploration begins with a new array of Koster's jubilant and wary photos of nude women, cavorting and posing in a dance studio." Seattle Times, January 18, 2005

"People were constantly staying insensitive things in a loving way. They were always thinking something was wrong with me, and it had to be corrected," said Director Kate Jaeger. McGrady said it is this tension that makes her latest work both more approachable and very, very dark." -- Seattle Sun, January 12-February 8, 2005

"The merging of these talented artists results in an emotional, psychological and spiritual journey through the psyche of women. Women and men wishing to gain a deeper understanding of women will undoubtedly appreciate and enjoy this unique exploration." -- UW Daily, January 20, 2005

"'Through the bodyBODY project, all three women hope to stimulate thought and discussion about how we perceive and define beauty in the 21st century. 'The hurtful things people say to each other can stick with them for the rest of their lives,' Albright says. 'We don't want people to be more guarded than they are, but we want people to be aware that what they are saying affects people, especially children. The body is just a vehicle for the brain and soul to be in the world,' Albright adds. 'When you get in a car for a Sunday drive, if all you think about is what a junker you have, you'll miss the drive.''' -- King County Journal, January 7, 2005

FOR bodyBODY: APHRODITE RAVES

"I hope people will have a really good time, become aware of what we are doing and be really happy when they walk away with their date with a hunky firefighter or other auction item," McGrady said. "And the money all goes to creating a better climate for young girls and others with body image issues." North Seattle Herald-Outlook, July 21, 2004

"bodyBODY is an amazing multi-media play that ran here in Seattle in August 2003. I had the opportunity to see it and, of course, from my bereaved-parent-point-of-view, I completely connected with the portion of the play about miscarriage. It was overwhelming to hear public voice be given to the depth of loss and the alteration of body image as a result! And the play was so much more than that, too." Kota Press, September, 2003

"The script yields some tart, knowing wisecracks and slangy repartee, and cheerfully employs a deus ex machina (Kate Jaeger, as a no-nonsense goddess) to help Eve out of her funk. ...What makes the whole enterprise affecting is the sum of its parts, particularly Koster's gripping lobby shots and Albright's short film." Seattle Times, August 14, 2003

"Writer/producer Vanessa McGrady (a tad adorable herself) was inspired to create bodyBODY after an ex-boyfriend said something snotty about her appearance. 'It really sent me into a tailspin,' she says. 'I was disgusted. I would look in the mirror and cry.' McGrady can stop crying; her show is far from disgusting. Sure, it feels like a work in progress at moments--the production needs tightening up, the flow of the overall concept needs attention, and god knows a script that requires a goddess to interrupt and explain the writer's intentions has a few bugs. But, all said, bodyBODY entertainingly proves beyond a doubt that heavy girls are beautiful too." The Stranger, August 14, 2003

"This is a show with a real heart and soul, and genuine conviction that it can serve to empower women against absurd social expectations of how their bodies should be, can help them heal from the emotional injuries those expectations cause, and can prevent the next generation from being damaged and demeaned by them. This project (it is experienced in several media) is not finished, and needs some work, but it's smart, genuine and powerful, and after some final finish it deserves a wide audience of both women and men. ... The photographs act as a mirror for the viewer, not only showing us how women look, but how we look at them. It is with those self-identified sets of biases that we enter into the theatrical production. ... [The documentary is] funny, moving, engaging material, and in their small confessions and intimate stories of what being 'wrong' has cost them, we recognize just how profound the damage is of this self-debasing constraint." Theatre Seattle, August 11, 2003

"Yet 'bodyBODY' is humorous. 'The things that are funny are the silly stuff we do to make ourselves beautiful,' [Kristal] Thomas said. 'Eve spends $18 on lipstick that's the same color as her lips.' " Everett Herald, August 8, 2003

“She soon dusted off the pieces and rose to the challenge of rebuilding her self-esteem in a spectacular fashion: Along with other local artists, McGrady put together a three-week-long multimedia event called "bodyBODY: Aphrodite Raves," a play and art installation based on women's body issues that kicks off next week at Theater Off Jackson in Seattle….” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 30, 2003

"The human body, male and female divisions, is the topic of two shows opening on Thursday ... On the women's side is 'bodyBODY: Aphrodite Raves,' Vanessa McGrady's multimedia exploration of the physical realities and the emotional anxieties attendant upon living in a female body." Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 1, 2003

Read about our creative financing in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 23, 2003