LOS ANGELES — It was the first day of rehearsal of "Tarantino Live: Fox Force Five and the Tyranny of Evil Men." And while actress Dionne Gipson has played Jackie Brown before, thanks to the pandemic, it's been a while since she's had to memorize lines.
"The tyranny of evil men is going to feel a world of pain tonight my friends," Gipson said.
The show features a group of female superwomen made famous in Quentin Tarantino's films who band together to fight the men who have wronged them.
Gipson plays Jackie Brown, the lead character of the 1997 film of the same name, made famous by Pam Grier. It was a role that inspired Gipson coming up as a young actress.
"One of the first Black women that were featured as a kind of superhero of a movie and lead," Gipson said.
For The Record is an unconventional theatrical series that creates shows centered around the soul of a director's film, the soundtrack.
While "Tarantino Live" has evolved over the last decade, quarantine helped Director Anderson Davis reimagine the show, weaving the interconnectedness of Tarantino's cinematic universe that begins in "Pulp Fiction," when Uma Thurman's character describes five superhero women known as the Fox Force Five.
"And that kicked off the inspiration for 'Kill Bill,' and you'll notice a lot of similarities between what she describes and Fox Force Five, and what 'Kill Bill' ultimately became," Davis said.
Davis also incorporated Tarantino's latest film, the Oscar-winning "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."
"That love letter to Hollywood and all of those classic songs from the very Tarantino era, that late '60s early '70s sound," Davis said.
But when that film was released, Tarantino came under scrutiny for Margot Robbie's lack of lines as Sharon Tate.
According to a 2019 Time article, historically, female characters in his films have had fewer lines than their male counterparts.
It's a claim Variety Features Editor Chris Willman rejects.
"I think whether he's creating these female action leads in 'Kill Bill' movies and 'Death Proof' or creating a great despicable female villain in 'Hateful Eight,' I think that goes against the argument that his films are somehow sexist," Willman said.
As an actress, Gipson said it's not about the number of lines but the quality of the character, like the female leads in "Tarantino Live" and in Tarantino's films.
"They actually are very fierce, you know, they're strong, they take charge of their own destinies, and they get justice," Gipson said.
That fierceness is what Gipson is having fun with, singing her heart out while playing the bold, gun-toting Jackie Brown that inspired her decades ago.