"... a cult classic." Jonathan Townsend — Lavender
Dragon Fist, Hidden Gerbil was the latest Jerungdu project which ran at the Red Eye Theater in Minneapolis in July of 2002. Dragon Fist examined Eastern philosophies and esthetic principles from a unequally Western perspective. (Our original working title for this piece was AssAssIn.) The idea was inspired by Asian action films, Japanese monster movies, video games and Asian pop music. We combined all of these elements into a thought provoking multimedia extravaganza with a sense of humor that audiences have come to expect from Jerungdu productions.
The story is based on the life of the Buddhist Saint Milarepa. Using this as a model, we skewed (skewered?) the story and adapted it to a Kung Fu movie context to look at issues relevant to Western audiences. It takes place in a fictional place in an oblique time period which incorporates modern and ancient stylistic conventions found in both the East and the West.
The effeminate Cooty (based loosely on the "Grasshopper" character played by David Caradine in the 70' Television series "Kung Fu") is raised by an overbearing stage Mother who is only interested in teaching him show tunes. After being kicked off their land by an evil Aunt and Uncle, Cooty's Mother vows revenge and makes him dress in drag and join the the Lesbian Ninjas. There he learns "Kung Ling Fu": a form of Evil Magic practiced by the great sorceress known as the Dragon Lady.
After killing off most of the village (but ironically not the evil Aunt and Uncle,) he is known by the townspeople as "Ass Ass In". He then seeks Karmic redemption under the guidance of the great Sao Lin master Hu Ta Chu.
Feel free to read the reviews. Read the script. Photos and commentary are below. (Sorry we don't have any good photos of the giant Godzilla foot.)
Click on these photos to enlarge.
Comentary: 1: Promotional Poster. 2: Chris Kelly as Cooty. 3: Nate Metcalf as Uncle Plow and Cooty sing a show tune to honor the "Guddha" the God of cheesy musicals.
4: "Everyone shall fear the wrath of my Feral Gerbil Death Scratch." 5: The final fight scene that almost wasn't. 6: Mo Donahue as Dragon Lady with her bloody tampon nun-chucks.
7: "Woman with the Kung Ling Fu" 8: Craig Vogel, Stacy Noyes and Barry Cole as Sao Lin.
9: Lesbian Ninja Dragon. 10: "I'm not just the Dragon Lady, I'm actually a man in drag!"
11: Katie Lose and Helen Chorolec as Lesbian Ninjas. 12: Lesbian Ninjas vs. Sao Lin
13: Dragon Goddess' Sara Bettinardi, Lynda Dahl and Katie Sapoci. 14: Fight sequence featuring fabric acrobatics conceived by Risa Cohen. 15: The final scene that almost wasn't. The mighty Guddha appears. 16: Asian American and African American actors playing Appalacian Hillbillies. Now that's JERUNGDU! Cultural opportunity abounds! 17: Profound use of the giant Godzilla turd. (Art with a capital A.) 18: Long haired mac daddies and whore brides. 19: Nettle S & M. 20: Barry Cole, Craig Vogel and Mo Donahue backstage.
This page is dedicated to the memory of Craig Vogel. He was a really great guy.
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