Vagina Monologues

bitteroldhag · October 20, 2006

I just thought we might discuss Vagina Monologues which I have been in twice and directed once. It's an interesting play. We have done it at the big U since 2001 and people always show up for it. Lots of men like it, but the big audience is older women. They just love it because it speaks for them. Eve Ensler can't write a whole sentence so we have to mess around with the script a bit, but it's really a powerful play. It was hell to direct it. I have never directed a play before and I didn't know what all was involved. It took a whole lot of time, but people say it's the best one yet. We even had musicians from my church (Unitarian) who played Irish music. We had some powerful actresses too. One, who was pregnant and had breast cancer, did the domatrix and she was wonderful. We had a lesbian gal do the angry vagina which I did in the past though I'm not lesbian. She brought down the house. I also brought down the house when I did it. I think I was typecast. We did the Comfort Women about the women whom the Japanese army used for sex in WWII. They are irritated about that. Our rendition was so powerful that people cried. They were really angry about that. We had a bunch of guys who did the lighting and ran the lights during the performance. They loved doing it. I think we should push this play. If you have a chance, go see it. It's pretty liberating though we have had some guys force their girls to leave because they found it irritating. Those are the guys the girls should avoid. We sold chocolate vaginas and sold out immediately. We also sold boas and fun stuff for women and made quite a lot of money. We had raffles for baskets and stuff and one lady won 3 of them! I told her we weren't going to give her anymore even if she won. My pseudo-son, Joe, ran the raffles and wore the tiara in his thinning hair (he's nearly 40) the tiara was the big event. It was really fun. I got the tiaras and boas on ebay for cheap. The women loved the boas which we sold for $5. They only cost about $3.50 so we made money for our charities. We support the local battered women's shelter and the CASA program for kids. Of course, the event cost me about $500 and my producer, Connie, spent about $300. But it was worth it.

I recommend that community theatres do Vagina Monologues. Interestingly, we have never done a big advertising campaign, yet the first year we did it, wedid a Friday performance and had to do a second performance on Saturday because we filled up the theatre for the first performance. That was exhausting. But the audience loved it and we didn't even have really good actresses. Most of the men loved it and the women went wild. I hope you get a chance to see this play or take part in it. We do reader's theatre since my friend and I were too damned old to memorize our parts but it worked anyway. What do you all think?

Carlene · October 20, 2006

I absolutely LOVE the Vagina Monologues! I have not seen a live performance - only the cable version, which you can rent from Net Flix (and probably Blockbuster, too).

I guess I fit the target audience (older women)...LOL. And I think you are right about the play "speaking for us". Most women my age would NEVER have the nerve.

I think I could watch the VM with my daughter, but I NEVER could have watched it with my mother. My husband worked nights and he wasn't home when it ran on our cable network, so he's never seen it. I'd certainly like to watch him, watching it...I think.

green · October 22, 2006

I saw the play performed live some years ago with a girlfriend, her daughter and her daughter's friend. I loved it. It is a great play to see in the company of women. There were no more than a handful of men in the theatre that night. The audience reaction was noisy with the laughter of self-recognition.

I wouldn't take my mate if I was going again. He wouldn't get enough of it and this would slow me down.

Devana · October 22, 2006

Have you seen those two Australian fellows that do the "Penis Puppetry"?

Carlene · October 22, 2006

....I wonder how far "The Penis Monologues" would get......

Actually, it's called the Penis Soliloquies, and I would LOVE to see it. Here's a cut and paste article...

“Would you put down the dildo so we can get to work?” IC Comedy Club President, Marcus Terry said, attempting to regain order at a rehearsal for “The Penis Soliloquies” last Saturday.

“The Penis Soliloquies” is made up of skits and monologues that center around the relationship between men and their penises. Some penis-related issues addressed are size concerns and readjustment techniques.

“The Penis Soliloquies” was first written by the IC Comedy Club three years ago, spoofing the female-oriented “Vagina Monologues.” Rather than focus on serious issues of sexuality, the club decided to make the entire show comedic, with jokes about what many people consider to be inappropriate subjects, like STDs and masturbation.

Senior cinema and photography major, Marcus Terry, said he remembers working on the original show as a freshman and the inspiration behind it.

“We’re not really making fun of ‘The Vagina Monologues’,” Terry said. “We’re getting inspired by it. I remember seeing it as a freshman, then going back to my dorm and writing one of the show’s orgasm monologues.”

Carlene · October 22, 2006

Have you seen those two Australian fellows that do the "Penis Puppetry"?

No, but I'd like to....LOL

MoOrLess · October 23, 2006

I went with my daughter, at her invitation, to see the VM near her college campus. Not knowing what to expect, I found it awesome, amazing, and it pulled at my heart and brought tears to my eyes. The abuses so many women face is sad and it was enpowering to watch the VM with my daughter, we just have that kind of relationship.

bitteroldhag · October 30, 2006

I can hardly wait to see or read this. It sounds like fun. All the guys at the Big U say we should do penis monologues, but no one has written the play until these guys did it. Thanks for letting me know about this.:omg: