From left: Sebastian Delascasas as Andy, Talia Ryder as Brandi and Ariana Mahallati as Mojdeh in How to Defend Yourself.
Liliana Padilla’s new play How to Defend Yourself tells the story of college students attempting to make sense of relationships, sexuality, and consent. Co-directed by Padilla, Rachel Chavkin, and Steph Paul, the drama unfolds in a college gym where a group of women are meeting for a self-defense class. The class is the brainchild of Brandi (Talia Ryder) and Kara (Sarah Marie Rodriguez) after the violent sexual assault of a fellow classmate, Susannah, on campus. Brandi and Kara are in Susannah’s sorority, and they’ve decided to do more than just talk about the incident. “It’s so easy to do nothing. Right?” Brandi says. “We wanted to do something.”
Mahallati (right) with Gabriela Ortega as Diana. Photographs by Joan Marcus.
The class attracts two first-year students, Mojdeh (Ariana Mahallati) and Diana (Gabriela Ortega), who are shortly joined by Nikki (Amaya Braganza). Mojdeh and Diana want to pledge the sorority, and at first Mojdeh’s motivation appears skewed by the opportunity to connect with the key sorority members, but she becomes authentically interested in learning how to defend herself.
Brandi is the teacher, experienced in such martial arts as Krav, karate (“I have a black belt”) and Muay Thai. “For our purposes,” she says, “we will be using a mix of techniques. Whatever works to get you home safe. My hope is to give you tools … to be in the world with more confidence in yourself and your ability to avoid danger.”
For the class, Brandi enlists the help of two male students, Andy (Sebastian Delascasas) and Eggo (Jayson Lee), who also know Susannah. As soon as they enter the gym, Andy tells the women, “we do not get down with that rape shit. Full stop. Every woman I’m with, every woman I’ve ever been with, consents affirmatively, OK? … I mean, I have two sisters. And they’re pretty. Like, gorgeous, okay? Anyone touches ’em, I’d kill ’em, bare hands, go to jail, don’t care.”
Jayson Lee plays Eggo and Amaya Braganza is Nikki in How to Defend Yourself.
Padilla does a nice job presenting the complexities of sexuality and the secret language of desire that is often misinterpreted. At their workouts, the group begins to dissect the nuances of sex, intimacy, desire, and consent. Kara shares her impulses and what she likes when she engages in sexual relations: “I want a man who just takes me, uses me, tosses me on a bed, makes me a little animal, I don’t want to think, I don’t want to talk.” Eggo chimes in to say that her attitude is confusing precisely because, if it is taken too far, it can be misconstrued as assault. Frustrated, he exclaims that men can’t read women’s minds and that the man is viewed as weak if they do not engage in such activities. In a key speech, Eggo describes the sexual negotiation with his ex-girlfriend:
She says, “You look like the kind of man who can’t satisfy me.” I was like, “How, how do I look like that?” And she goes, “You know what I mean.” “Bitch, I don’t know what you mean, if I knew what you meant I wouldn’t ask.”… “You’re so soft and sweet and skinny. I can’t imagine you fucking me the way I want to be fucked…” [She] aid the sex always felt like a surprise. … Now riddle me this: what’s the difference between sex that is a surprise and assault? Cuz I don’t want to be the surprise that winds up in jail.
Jayson Lee as Eggo and Sarah Marie Rodriguez as Kara.
The cast shows great energy, interacting with one another organically and seamlessly. However, the play just begins to tell the stories of these interesting young characters. The character who experiences the most growth is Nikki. When she first enters the classroom, she is shy and meek. She can barely say her name. As the play progresses she gains more confidence and begins to believe in herself. Unfortunately, her growth comes to a halt when she becomes a victim of an intimidation attack. Distraught and disillusioned, she returns to class to tell the group what happened and how the techniques they learned didn’t work. Although Nikki’s incident is disappointing—it is real.
The play’s ending is compiled of quick, small vignettes of youthful activities like birthday parties, prom, and beer pong. Although it is not entirely clear, it appears to show the journey of youth and how danger and innocence sometimes exist in the same space and how one is often unaware of their proximity.
Padilla touches on relevant issues that occur every day worldwide. She brings audiences’ attention to a college campus that should be a place of safety, exploration, and self-examination, but can also be a location where sexual assault can occur. Familiar does not necessarily equate to safe.
How to Defend Yourself runs through April 2 at New York Theatre Workshop (79 East 4th Street, between The Bowery and Second Avenue). For tickets and more information, visit nytw.org.
