There’s a lot to say about the
Vagina Monologues, a play by 1 Billion Rising and Frostburg State theatre
members, that opened up this past weekend on Friday and Saturday, February 22nd
and 23rd. This production was made to raise awareness about violence against
women, including domestic abuse, manipulation, and rape, and is a very bold
play. Words such as “cunt,” “pussy,” “vagina,” and “coochie snorcher” are used
quite frequently during the production as a sort of ice breaker for the crowd,
and it was clear who was and was not comfortable with this from the amount of
people trying to quietly leave even before the first intermission. Prominent
Frostburg State University girls, like Kai White and Lucille Blumberg, all made
presentations of different women’s testimonies throughout the country to
various questions posed to them during their interviews. Each interviewee had to
respond to very unusual and unorthodox questions, such as “If your vagina could
talk, what would it say?” and “What clothes would your vagina wear?” This play
is something that delves into the roots of a woman’s sexuality, ranging from
females as young as 6 and as old as 72 years old.
The reactions of the crowd were
just what would be expected from the content and choice of words used by the
performers. Despite the adult-rated language and performances, it was more than
just profanity and possibly obscenity; rather, it was to exemplify the scrutiny
of the woman and identify those double-standards in life which we accept as the
norm. There were lesbian references – including a couple of the interviewees,
there were sex references and imitations of female orgasms, and even personal
stories of sexual encounters that the interviewed women had experienced during
their lives. One example of the
stories shared with the crowd on the two nights that the Vagina Monologues was
performed is the account of a young teenage girl who had a sexual encounter
with another young woman in her twenties. The woman was a neighbor of the
girl’s family, as well as a beautiful lawyer, and the girl’s mother had allowed
for them to spend time at the woman’s house (don’t let the words confuse you). It
was there that the young girl learned how she enjoyed the sexual companionship
of a female and not of a male, as she told the woman that she doesn’t like
kissing boys. Although the girl never saw the woman again, the experience had
changed her life as well as what she thought of her “coochie snorcher,” as the
young girl’s mother referred to the vagina as.
There is not much more to say
about the Vagina Monologues without retelling more of the stories shared in the
production. The Vagina Monologues really is a collection of monologues from
women across the country of all ages who were interviewed about their vaginas;
hence, Vagina Monologues became the self-explanatory title. However, the one
major thing that caught my attention the most is one of the final performances
by an FSU student with a trimmed Mohawk. Her character was a woman who was once
a lawyer and then became a paid female dominatrix. She illustrated for the
entire crowd the sounds and body movements of over a dozen different female
orgasms while sitting in a chair, each with its own unique name. It’s hard to
imagine that some of the men in the crowd weren’t standing at attention during
some parts of this particular act.
As I was an indoor usher for the Vagina
Monologues, I got close to a front row seat to the production in addition to
being able to see the crowd’s reactions to some of the content displayed
onstage. It was a prime position for me to both observe both the performers and
the audience, as well as joke around with one of the stage managers, Donnie.
The experience overall was enjoyable once the awkwardness of certain words was
taken away and I applaud 1 Billion Rising for creating and coordinating such a
significant, complicated, and daring production.
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