By Lindsay Christ
Thursday, Feb. 26 was opening night of the University’s production of “The Vagina Monologues.” Put on by VDay Productions, the 18 women cast performed both funny and powerful monologues about female genitalia. The play started out with a passionate poem written and performed by freshman Jade Keena, celebrating women everywhere. She urged the audience to “write ‘I exist’ on one arm, ‘love me’ on the other and ‘beautiful’ across your chest.” The entire cast sat on the red and black themed stage throughout the play.
The introduction, performed by Jeridith Ann Wallace, Hannah Ketcham and Crystal Peone, told the crowd that they were worried… about vaginas. They had nothing to fear, because after they finished the show kicked into high gear. The monologues were crafted after interviews with hundreds of women about their vajingos by Eve Ensler, creator of the original. The pieces that were performed at the University touched upon topics ranging from pubic hair to a story about a vagina workshop.
“The Flood” performed by Mary Stasiuk, stood out among the opening acts. It told the story of a 72-year-old women who had never seen her vagina before due to an incident that happened when she was an “excited” teenager. Since that incident she had never felt comfortable about her vagina, referring to it as a “cellar” that no one would want to visit. By the end of the interview she said that she felt better talking about, raising the importance of women being able to talk about this taboo topic. Stasiuk, equipped with the typical old lady accent, is charming as a woman who has lived her life in shame for no reason.
Another humorous monologue was “My Angry Vagina” featuring Stephanie Vallejo and Erica Serranzina. The skit talked about things that made the vagina angry, such as tampons, gynecologist visits and thongs. “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy,” performed by Courtney Hahn, had the audiences in stitches. As a female sex worker who only services women because they moan more, Hahn performed different types of moans throughout the sketch, and had a different one for each type of ethnic group.
The most powerful piece was “Say It.” The skit depicted the plight of Japanese Comfort Women. These women, who were used as sex slaves by Japanese soldiers, were played by Jill Lipari, Julia Matias and Alexis Mitchell. Their performances were chilling, and had audience members in tears as they described having to service 50 soldiers a day and becoming infertile from all the STDs they acquired. Another serious piece was “My Vagina Was My Village,” where Shea Molloy and Heather Sousa spoke of the sexual torture that was done to them after their village in Bosnia was taken over.
On a lighter note, two other notable performances were “The Little Coochi Snorcher that Could” and “Reclaiming C**t.” In “Coochi Snorcher,” Chelsie Tuttle plays a charming young Southern girl who has always been told her ‘coochie snorcher’ was off limits, and after several terrible instances throughout her childhood, she believes it. What finally sets her free is her first lesbian experience, and Tuttle performs with a genuine innocence that makes the piece all the better. Melissa Louis-Jacques performs “Reclaiming C**t” with a dizzying level of energy as she tries to take back the infamous C-word.
Surprisingly, only a few of the girls performing are drama majors, the rest are majoring in subjects ranging from biology to public relations. Since this is a world famous production, there was definitely pressure on the University’s cast. However, they exceeded the standards of a University production with their raw emotion and passion.