Eyes will be opened and bodies explored tonight with the opening of “The Vagina Monologues,” which begins at 7 in Meacham Auditorium of Oklahoma Memorial Union, with a second performance taking place at the same time Tuesday.
Presented by the OU Women’s Outreach Center and the department of Women’s and Gender Studies, “The Vagina Monologues” is the popular episodic show that embraces and explores the female body, sexuality and other topics frequently deemed to be taboo.
Written and originally performed by Eve Ensler in 1996, “The Vagina Monologues” is an evolution of interviews Ensler conducted with 200 women about their views on sex and their own bodies. With these themes in mind, the show’s introduction attempts to relate the spirit behind the production:
“We were worried about what we think about vaginas, and even more worried that we don’t think about them. We were worried about our own vaginas. They needed a context of other vaginas — a community, a culture of vaginas. There’s so much darkness and secrecy surrounding them — like the Bermuda triangle. Nobody ever reports back from there.”
Of the show’s subtext, third-time director and professional writing graduate student Anna Holloway said: “It’s safe to have these conversations and these weird thoughts, and it’s safe to talk about it. That’s really what I want people to take away from this.”
In addition to boldly addressing the topics of female genitalia and sexuality, an integral part of the show has always been to raise awareness about violence against women and to support organizations dealing with this violence. The proceeds of the OU production of “The Vagina Monologues” will go to benefit the Women’s Resource Center in Norman, as well as the V-Day Foundation, the movement started by Ensler calling for an end to violence against women and girls.
The production, now in its 11th year at OU, features a different cast of OU students, alumni, faculty and staff for each performance this week, and will include monologues such as “The Flood,” “My Angry Vagina,” and “The Little Coochie Snorcher That Could,” with each monologue concerning various topics such as pubic hair, orgasms, childbirth and rape.
Caitlyn Wright, a third-year performer in the show and Women’s and gender studies senior, said of the show’s range of topics: “Some of the monologues are sad and others are hysterical, and the audience will experience laughter, but they may also cry and get emotional — the show really runs the gamut of emotions.”
Of the show’s more harrowing pieces will likely be this year’s spotlight monologue, which addresses rape and sex slavery in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Although the show deals explicitly with violence against women and other women’s issues, audience members should not assume that “The Vagina Monologues” speaks solely to women. Wright’s father, a Baptist minister, has attended the production the last two years, and first-time “Monologues” performer and sociology sophomore Afton Redmon said of the show in support of a mixed audience: “It’s a great program that’s raising awareness about domestic violence. It’s one of those taboo subjects that people don’t talk about, and it’s not just women who need to talk about it — it’s not only physical violence, but also mental violence, both of which can occur with men and women.”
In addressing this violence, Holloway said, “What I always say — I think my director’s note says this in the program — is that my main goal for this show, this program, the whole V-Day movement, is that it become unnecessary. It is here to raise awareness of an epidemic, and I would like the epidemic to not be there anymore so that we don’t have to raise awareness about it — let’s cure this.”
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Anon 2 years, 3 months ago
This show is going to be amazing!