(excerpts from)
VAGINA MONOLOGUES POIGNANT
FUNNY, THOUGHT PROVOKINGRoy Berko (Member, American Theatre Critics Association)
--The Times Newspapers--
Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News Times-Olmsted-Fairview TimesMany plays entertain. Others make important social psychological points. Still others help bring about change. Eve Ensler's THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES does all of those. The most important side-journey for the play has been the establishment of V-Day, a non-profit organization that has raised over five million dollars to be used in stopping violence against women.
The play is a series of first-person vignettes, some hilarious, others heartbreaking, which illuminate women's lives. Ensler said she was inspired to write THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES after being shocked by how a friend described her body in a discussion on menopause. Drawing on more than 200 interviews, Ensler chronicled how women felt about their intimate anatomy and turned these narratives into "poetry for the theater."
"Let's just start with the word 'vagina,'" the first monologue begins. "It sounds like an infection at best, maybe a medical instrument: "Hurry, Nurse, bring me the vagina." It doesn't matter how many times you say it, it never sounds like a word you want to say. It's a totally ridiculous, completely unsexy word."
As the narration continue sthe audience quickly realizes that they are laughing but sometimes through tears. Some parts of the script are humorous such as when an actress moans the various types of climaxes...the Aretha Franklin moan, the baby moan, the Southern Woman moan, and the machine gun moan. Other parts are disturbing, such as a Bosnian refugee recounting the horrors of rape in war. "Not since the soldiers put a long thick rifle inside me," the passage states. "So cold, the steel rod canceling my heart. Don't know whether they're going to fire it or shove it through my spinning brain."
Is the material intentionally sexual? Is it meant to titillate and offend for the sake of selling theatre tickets? No, it is an attempt to make the female human body a reality, not something of which to be ashamed. It is meant to talk about the problems of women in a non-secretive way. Does that mean it will not offend some? The narrow minded, those who don't understand that the words are words which express ideas and physical sensations, will probably walk out. Several did on opening night. Too bad, they probably were the ones that needed to hear the message.
The production concept is simple. There are three women, sitting on stools, dressed in nondescript clothing, reading their lines with the use of note cards. The importance of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES is what is said, not how it is performed. That's not to say that the cast is not excellent, it is. We just don't need sets, costumes and special lighting to make the point...the dialogue does it all.
THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES is an important play to see and experience, whether you are a female or male. Its message is universal.