Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” was performed on February 14 and 15 in collaboration with the Drama Club, Bake Club, Chatham Choir, This is Me, Artist Collective and the Class of 2016.
Their work paid off as “The Vagina Monologues” performance was empowering, resonating, intimate, and poignant. The show opened with three women played by Diana Cabrea, Megan E. Cooper and Tahmina Tursonzadah who introduced the concept of “The Vagina Monologues”.
The monologues are a series of interviews with women of all ages, races, occupations, and sexualities. The women were asked peculiar questions about their privates such as “What would your vagina wear?” or “If your vagina could talk, what would it say?” The monologues are stories of self-discovery, pain and liberation, and are a pleasure to watch.
Gretchen Geibel performing “My Short Skirt”
An audience favorite was “The Flood” performed by Catherine “Cat” Giles. From beginning to end she took on the identity of an elderly woman “who’s wondering why a young girl is going around asking old ladies about their down theres.” It was an authentic performance, from the accent, the body language and, most importantly, the delivery of the monologue. We felt her embarrassment and her sadness. We stepped into her life with every sentence. She flooded our hearts.
The monologue, “My Vagina was my Village”, performed by Jessica Chow, can be described as potent. Chow personified a village woman who is mutilated and raped repeatedly by soldiers invading her village. She describes her life before her rape and how her vagina used to be her home. Her face is jovial, full of wonder and hope but then it happens and her face is filled with anguish and sadness. The juxtaposition of these two emotions seamlessly conveyed how she was then as opposed to how she is currently. The performance was riveting.
Other note-worthy performances include “Reclaiming C***” by Meaghan Clohessy. This was fun and energetic, with the perfect amount of audience participation. In this piece Clohessy takes back the derogatory C-word. The word is said in a whisper then in various pitches and pronunciations, ending with shouting the word, accompanied with an echo from back stage and from the audience.
Skyler Wilcha’s performance of “My Angry Vagina” was unforgettable. The line, “dry wad of f****** cotton”, in reference to tampons, would be forever etched in our minds. Ciera’s Young’s recitation of “The Little Coochie Snorcher That Could” told the trials and tribulations of a woman’s vagina and her discovery of how to love and whom to love.
Sklyer Wilcha performing “My Angry Vagina”
The show closed with Onastasia Youssef and her monologue “One Billion Rising for Justice”. The monologue was a call to action to stop the violence against women not by staying silent but by speaking out until our voices are heard and changes are implemented. It was a solid way to close the show. All the characters were present on stage with the speaker to advocate in unison for a world that is safe and accommodating for women of all kinds.