testimonials
"Dr. Jenn Freitag’s performance piece I Want My Jacket Back is a marvel. With humor, pathos, wisdom, and compassion, she brings issues of gender and sexual violence to communities that need to hear the message. Her performance is a dialogue with the audience; she invites them to be part of the experience. She listens. She questions. She sings! I was moved by her performance and challenged to think about these issues in new and complex ways. In the months since Jenn’s visit I find that my thoughts return to her performance and I try to use what she shared and taught to help my students."
-Michael Phillips-Anderson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Monmouth University
"I went to Jenn's show at the 2013 Gender Matters Conference. I appreciated how personal and interactive her performance was. I did not know what to expect, but I figured it would be a situation where I would simply listen and learn, but it was so much more! She brought the audience into her show and the discussions her vignettes prompted felt organic and natural. I recommend her show to people who want to have honest conversations about consent and gender violence. There were a variety of views and personal experiences shared, both by Jenn and by audience members, so I commend Jenn for creating a safe space for us to talk. That takes a lot of skill!"
-Chelsea Hampton, Graduate Student, North Carolina State University
"By blending theatre, humor, song, and dialogue, I Want My Jacket Back makes the challenging issue of sexual violence so much more accessible to audiences hesitant to engage in the discussion of it. Jenn makes a hard conversation so much easier by creating great material and using her wonderful talents to make her so relatable."
-Christian Murphy, Executive Director, Catharsis Productions, Chicago, IL
"I Want My Jacket Back helped crack open a space for dialogue on our campus—a space with room for humor and light as well as for the critical questioning of social norms surrounding gender violence. Jenn’s persona and facilitation skills invited students to speak up during the performance and after her visit had ended. Several of my male students explained that they learned a lot because the humor and music transcended their expectations, and one of my students even created her own in-class performance, supported by and theorized through the framework of I Want My Jacket Back! This performance is smart, caring, pedagogically sound, and enlightening--
especially for campus audiences—and, as one of my colleagues put it, should be seen by every class before they graduate.
especially for campus audiences—and, as one of my colleagues put it, should be seen by every class before they graduate.
-Shauna MacDonald, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Villanova University
"Dr. Freitag's I Want My Jacket Back creates an environment where gender violence and sexual assault can be discussed safely and openly. Setting the stage to discuss these issues are performance art pieces that approach heavy topics in an open manner. As a man I found that the show allowed me to engage in the topics from a different mindset and I was able to enter feedback and respond to others with my own experiences and input. I am happy to say that I Want My Jacket Back is a great medium to discuss these topics and engage people in a positive way!"
-Adam McCallister, Undergraduate Student, Southern Illinois University
"I Want My Jacket Back opened students up to discussing sexual assault and gender violence in a public forum without hushed voices. By weaving together music, humor, and story, Jenn made theory accessible and exciting to my undergraduate students. The accompanying workshop aimed at creating performances to intervene in rape culture challenged students in the SAVE (Students Against a Violent Environment) Forum Actors, a peer theatre troupe on our campus, to tap into their own creativity to critique song lyrics they themselves may have listened to and sang along with earlier in the day. By revolving the conversation around every day ideas and concepts, Jenn was able to start a meaningful dialogue that helped the students to reflect on things they may have not thought of challenging previously."
-Amandajean Freking Nolte, SAVE Forum Actors Director, University
of Northern Iowa
of Northern Iowa
Jenn's I Want My Jacket Back performance filled Villanova's auditorium because of the show's inviting use of humor and music. Her use of audience participation excited the students and started a lot of conversation. Jenn addresses phrases that students use everyday, as well as belief systems and ideas to which we can become numb. A week after the event, a male student in my Philosophy of Women class said he had heard of the performance from a discussion in another class. The show had an impact on the campus; students talked about the event for weeks, even students who had not attended. She invokes dialogue and is able to keep the mood light with humor, while keeping a necessary level of sensitivity and seriousness. As a student who organized sexual violence awareness events for three years on campus, I can say this was definitely the most successful and highly attended event thus far--and I have had many students ask if Jenn will be coming back to our campus in the future.
-Molly Sapia, Villanova University Class of 2013, Former President
of Villanova-Sexual Assault Awareness Student Organization
of Villanova-Sexual Assault Awareness Student Organization
"'Jean Jacket' was amazing. She allowed me to free myself from my past regrets for domestic and rape violence. Thank you for allowing me to express the truth by the truth."
-Anonymous student at the Illinois Community College Student Activities Association Conference, John A. Logan College, October 2011