Monologues unify all women

By Grace Weng     2/14/12 6:00pm

Twenty actresses strut onto the Sid Richardson College basement stage dressed in fierce, classy outfits of red and black. Rice University's 2012 production of The Vagina Monologues, directed by Hanszen College seniors Annie Blay and Kate Snyder, is far from being one of those hackneyed efforts to remind women of how strong, beautiful and superior to men they are. Instead, the play aims to place at the forefront a community that unifies a diverse set of women - old, young, rich, poor, heterosexual, homosexual, transgendered, cloistered, liberal, victimized, enabled – to confront violence toward women. Each of the poignant monologues in its own way reinforces the message of learning to accept and love not only vaginas, but also women as a whole.

The Vagina Monologues was written by Eve Ensler for the V-Day movement, which seeks to stop violence against women. The play is founded on a significant degree of truth, which can be simultaneously comforting and unsettling. The monologues were based off a collection of over 200 interviews of women discussing their vaginas or female parts in general. Some monologues follow personal testimonies pretty closely, like the heartfelt portrayal of McMurtry College freshman Ellen Marsh as an elderly New Yorker in "The Flood." Sid senior Karen Frankenfeld humorously yet sincerely plays the traumatized-turned-enlightened southerner in "The Little Coochi Snorcher That Could." Other monologues reflect more generalized responses, like answers to "What would your vagina wear/say?" (jocularly presented by Sarah Jacobs and Maddie Camp, both Sid freshmen) or a compilation of the experiences of Bosnian rape victims (emotional delivery by Duncan College freshman Clara Roberts). Intermittently, Brown College junior Kori Bertun comes to the front of the stage to present a couple of facts and statistics, ranging from intriguing to startling. The different episodes are linked by the earnest narrator, Wiess College freshman Annie Zeumer, carrying the audience through the variety of reflections women can have concerning their vaginas and all the experiences and emotions that come with them.

The staging is simple: The actresses perform their monologues front and center one at a time, while the rest of the cast sits on the stage behind them – a sort of visual net of support. Some actresses use the stage more efficiently than others, but all of the actresses come to fully embody their characters. (McMurtry College senior Hannah Thalenberg's "The Vagina Workshop" and McMurtry senior Rachael Petersen's "They Beat the Girl Out of My Boy" instantly come to mind.) The degree to which these actresses invest into their characters thus offer the audience a dynamic range of extremely personal testaments. Some monologues were on the humorous side, whereas others had a rather somber manner to them. The production in general managed to effectively tackle delicate subjects like genital mutilation and sex abuse without making the play feel ?too oppressive.

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Though The Vagina Monologues  potentially pushes a few boundaries at times, such as glorifying a certain four-lettered word that begins with "c" and the positive account of a female sex worker, the play manages to direct every section of it to this central encouragement toward women to fully accept their bodies, their feelings and themselves. This production considerately upholds the play's origin and purpose while making it pertinent to the Rice community. The proceeds will go to the Houston Area Women's Center to support this movement against violence toward women.

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