"We bet you're worried. We were worried. Worried about vaginas," begins "The Vagina Monologues." Worried that it's too smelly, or too hairy or maybe not hairy enough. Or maybe worried that it's not even something that can be brought up in conversation - are they talking about vaginas? For once, people are, in fact, talking about vaginas - freely, openly and without consequence - thanks to AU's fifth annual production of "The Vagina Monologues."
The production ran from Thursday, Feb. 17 to Saturday, Feb. 19 and those who didn't snatch any "Vagina" this past weekend really missed out.
Every seat was occupied and there was almost no room to stand in the McDowell Formal Lounge on all three nights "Vagina Monologues" was performed, a testament to the popularity and support of this show, which has now become an on-campus tradition.
Directed by Marissa Labate, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, the show delivered a powerful message to an enthusiastic audience as part of the international V-Day initiative, a global movement launched by the show's creator, Eve Ensler, to end violence against women. The proceeds from the AU production are donated to the DC Rape Crisis Center.
Ensler originally wrote "The Vagina Monologues" and preformed them in New York as a one-woman show after traveling all over the world, interviewing women who had been victims of rape, war, cultural and social marginalization and domestic abuse. These interviews were developed into the monologues that are now performed all over the world, including here, at AU.
The global production of "The Vagina Monologues" has become nothing short of a massive social movement to empower women to stand up against violence, societal patterns that perpetuate violence, and to love themselves and their vaginas.
"It's an international unifier," said Erica Santo Pierto, a member of the 23- woman cast and a senior in the School of Public Affairs.
Pierto delivered a monologue about the systematic, mass rape used against the female civilian population during the war in Kosovo in the late 1990s.
Part of the secret to the success of the monologues is to keep the themes current.
"The Bosnia and Kosovo pieces weren't added [to the production] until the issues actually occurred," Labate said after the Thursday night show. "As issues arise, monologues change."
The production was updated from last year's show by Ensler, who added a new monologue about violence against women resulting from the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. She also added a monologue to raise awareness about the struggles of transgendered women, an issue that gets little, if any, national attention.
"Some people don't even consider transgendered women real women," said performer Jessica Dillion, a senior in the School of Public Affairs. "That's a real problem."
Jen Smyers, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, was part of the trio that delivered one of the new monologues entitled, "They Beat the Girl Out of My Boy... Or So They Tried." Smyers said she felt that she was able to bring first hand experience to the role after working with an organization that provides assistance to transgendered women in crisis her freshman year.
For Labate, casting the show had more to do with these sorts of real-life experiences than past experience in the theater.
"I was looking for real women, not real actors," said Labate, who had to cast 23 performers from the pool of more than 150 who auditioned. "I asked them why they wanted to be in the show, and they let their inner-selves shine though," she said.
Sexuality is also a major theme explored in "The Vagina Monologues," though Labate said she was careful in her direction not to idealize sex or present women as sexual objects.
"Getting the message across is very important," she said.
Amy Wielunski, a junior in the School of Communication, performed a monologue on the subject, told from the point of view of an elderly woman who swore off sex after "flooding" a young man's car seat with a liquid "that wasn't pee, and smelled like sour milk."
"[Sex] is a touchy subject," said Wielunski. "It can make people uncomfortable."
The performers bravely took on what are generally considered taboo subjects one after another, with a sincerity and honesty that kept the audience engaged, comfortable, and at home. (Except for some squirmy boys who maybe didn't quite know what they were getting themselves into.)
The courage and passion of these performers and the irrefutable nature of the show's assertions are what ultimately make "The Vagina Monologues" the center of the global movement it has spurned. With only their bodies, voices and radiant energy, 23 women were able to move a diverse audience from mild discomfort to the hysterical laughter of recognition, to the tears from those who identified with the victims of violence. No costumes, no set. Just words.
"These issues aren't uncomfortable anymore," said Katherine DeJaun, who delivered a monologue about sex with a man who taught her character to see beauty in her vagina, a part of her body that was ignored out of shame and embarrassment.
"It's very well written, and good writing will always communicate its message," DeJuan said.
Not everyone feels that "The Vagina Monologues" spreads a message worth sharing, however. Often, it is perceived by critics to be overly feminist and anti-male. Those critical of the show have pointed to the exclusion of men from the cast as a form of discrimination, though Ensler has men involved in the production of the show behind the scenes.
"All the focus is on women to compensate for the lack of female focus in society and around the world," said Samantha Koshgarian, a member of the cast and a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.
"There are a lot of misconceptions about the show," fellow cast member Santo Pierto said. "It's not about men, and men don't like that, even though it's not about bashing or hating men."
But despite the controversy that is inevitable when women challenge norms, this year's production of "The Vagina Monologues" was nothing short of awe-striking.
Whether the audience was put out by the yearly visitation of subjects they think are better left unheard or empowered by the show's activist message, one thing is certain: "The Vagina Monologues" and the brave Vagina Warriors, those who bring it to life every year, are a force to be reckoned with. "The Vagina Monologues" celebrates femininity and explores the uniqueness, grace, beauty and power of what it means to be a woman - every part of her.
"You're always going to touch people," Labate said, speaking of the yearly effect "Monologues" has on audiences. "That's the point. We're here to change lives"
