Some Northwestern students were worried about vaginas.
But instead of sitting around wallowing in their worries, they decided to put on Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues. Mixing humor and seriousness, they deliver the message about the importance of becoming more comfortable with talking about vaginas and about putting an end to violence against women.
“The show offers a different mode of expression,” says Communication sophomore and cast member Alex Garcia. Garcia believes that using theater is one of the best ways to achieve the show’s goals of creating awareness and discussing issues that are generally not given social importance.
Produced by the American Medical Women’s Association, The Vagina Monologues features recounted stories based on what real women talked about when they are asked about their vaginas. Some scenes were, as the show’s title suggests, monologues from women recalling particular memories about their vaginas. There was “The Flood,” a teenage memory from a 72-year-old New York woman. In “Because He Liked to Look At It,” one woman chronicles the story of how, from her experiences with a particular man, she learned to love her vagina.
Other scenes revolve around questions, such as “What would your vagina wear?” or “What would your vagina say?” The performers answer the questions based on the answers real women gave, giving the audience the opportunity to hear a wide range of responses. In one particular scene, a woman talks about the first time she got her period, describing how her mother said “mazel tov” and then slapped her.
The show, Garcia says, serves the “dual purpose” of entertaining and portraying reality. Two of the scenes are particularly apt in demonstrating The Vagina Monologues’ juxtaposition of comedic and serious topics. “A Happy Vagina Fact” enlightens the audience about the clitoris, while “A Not-So-Happy Fact” describes the horrors of female genital mutilation.
The serious scenes serve to inform the audience about the prevalence of violence against women across the globe and teach them how to resist such horrors.
“The play is meant as an activist piece,” says Communication sophomore Elizabeth Polans, the show’s artistic director. And as an activist piece, all proceeds from last weekend’s performance will benefit Between Friends, a Chicago-based, nonprofit group that works with individuals and families to raise awareness about, as well as reduce, domestic violence.
The overarching themes of The Vagina Monologues are the significance of being comfortable talking about this topic as well as gaining familiarity with the subject matter. The Vagina Monologues helps improve the dialogue on campus because “it makes people a lot more comfortable talking about it,” Polans says.
The Vagina Monologues is playing Feb. 17 and Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Thorne Auditorium, 375 E. Chicago Ave., on NU’s Chicago campus. Advance tickets are available by e-mailing jtooredman008@ md.northwestern.edu. For more information, contact Ilana Ruff by calling (401) 935-8217.4
Medill freshman Christina Amoroso is a PLAY writer. She can be reached at [email protected].
