Vagina Monologues: From an Actor's Perspective

By Lisa Ricchio

I had never seen the Vagina Monologues. I really had no idea what they were about. Besides vaginas, that is. And then one day while hanging out in the Women's Center, or better known as the Dub-C, as I often am found, someone suggested to me that I tryout for the Vmons. “You should be the moaner”, they said. Having never seen or read the monologues, but at the same time being very intrigued, I said, “Sure, why the hell not?” And I went to tryouts and read for the moaner. After tryouts, all I could think was, 'Uhhh why did they think I should be the moaner?!'

So, obviously, I got a part. A few parts actually. I was in the introduction, the questions, the vagina workshop, and the woman who loved to make vaginas happy… aka: “The Moaner.”

The introduction was sectioned into “personalities” and then given to those of us who matched the personalities. Surprise, surprise! I was the sarcastic, dry humored character. Who would’ve thought, huh?

The questions ended up being a slide show which was a blast to make because it mostly consisted of arts and crafts. Sweet!

For the vagina workshop all I had to do was be a background person and follow the moves of “the instructor” on stage. Check.

Last but certainly not least, were the moans. As we were in rehearsals, we were doling out who would do which moan. I volunteered myself for the doggie moan, the WASP moan, and the college moan. I never thought I’d have the ovaries to get up on stage in front of 500 people in a red corset and 5 inch heels and MOAN. But hey, there’s a first time for everything, right?

Okay, so, THIS WAS THE MOST FUN EVER! My fellow cast members were awesome and really fun to hang out with 3 or 4 times a week in rehearsals and the directing duo was super patient with us. Keep an eye out next year because I’m so totally down to do it all over again!

Vagina Monologue Review

By Khou Xiong

I have heard that Vagina Monologues was a good show. I went to see the play expecting it to be good and it was. The word “monologue” made me think of people just talking at the audience, but it wasn't exactly that. Each monologue was interesting. I loved how most of the monologues had at least two people talking which turned it more into a dialogue, a discussion.

One of my favorite monologues had to have been “The Flood”. This piece let the audience hear an older woman's voice and ideas about her vagina through her younger, inner voice. Listening to the two difference voices really grabbed me from the start and I attention even more attention to the play. It made the performance much more interesting. This piece was about how the older woman was remembering when she went on a date with a boy. She got so excited when the boy kissed her that suddenly a “flood” came from her lady parts. She was embarrassed to ever talk about her vagina from then on and even refers to it as cellar that no one goes down to. “The Flood” made me think about all of the young women out there who have no idea about what is happening to a woman’s body when she gets aroused. The feeling of “wrongness” when one first has “the flood” happen to them is frightened and they usual ponder or wonder if what just happened to them was “wrong”.

Another thing that made this play really intriguing was the monologue “Vagina Happy Fact”. It was great that the play had true facts about a woman's vagina to let women in the audience know. Some of the facts were as follows: the Vagina has over 8,000 nerve endings, it is the only organ in the body that used simply for pleasure, and it has twice the amount of nerves than are found in the penis. I certainly didn’t know that a woman’s clitoris had twice the about of nerve endings than that of a man’s penis (particularly, the sensitive head of the penis).

I also like the monologue called The Woman Who Love To Make Vaginas Happy. It was about a woman who taught women how to moan and find their sexual center. She went through all of the different moans that one could have from religious moans (Catholic, Jewish) to college moans (“Oh professor!” or “I should be studying!”). It certainly was an experience to hear different moans. I laughed the most at this monologue because I didn’t know how funny moans could be when you heard it from others.

If you have never seen this play, I encourage you to go see it whether it's in next year's Vagina Monologues put on by the AS Women's Center or elsewhere. This play is entertaining and most of empowering.  

Chico State Vagina Monologues Review

By Sarah Mann

200 interviews conducted, 15 years performed, and limitless reactions, the Vagina Monologues have truly evoked an array of emotions in me.

In its 12^th year of production at Chico State, the Vagina Monologues have never failed to bring in a full audience. 

Presented by Associated Student Women’s Center, the Vagina Monologues had its annual spring production this past weekend in the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium.  

Now for those of you, who, like me before this weekend, have little to no knowledge about the creation and basis for the Vagina Monologues, here you go.

It all began in 1996 when a woman named Eve Ensler interviewed 200 women and asked them questions relating to their relationships, sexuality, and violence against women. The responses she got led her to, well, develop a great interest in vaginas. What it seems she gathered is the thought that a way to gain female empowerment is to gain the empowerment of one’s vagina. A parallel if you will.

After a few years of production, however, the idea and intention of the Vagina Monologues changed form, from a celebration of vaginas to campaign the end violence against women.  This is where the V-Day movement comes into play.

V-Day is a movement also started by Ensler in an effort to end violence against women and girls.  Through the thousands of annual benefit performances of the Vagina Monologues, preformed in 45 different languages in 130 different countries, V-Day has raised awareness and of course funds. 

This simple statement encompasses everything V-day and the Vagina Monologues represent.

“V-Day dreams of a world in which women and girls will be free to thrive, rather than merely survive” – V-day website

SO anyways, before viewing my first Vagina Monologue, I wanted to get a bit of background and that is what I learned. 

As a first time intern at the AS Women’s Center, and someone who has never taken a women studies course in her life, I have to admit that I fell into that horrible  margin of people who get uncomfortable, make inappropriate jokes, and are simply ignorant about the purpose of what the Vagina Monologues is. 

The stigma that comes along with the words vagina, feminist, and even sex, completely gets torn down after witnessing this phenomenal presentation of activism. Every single one of these monologues encompassed topics from sex and mutilation to emotions of anger and pleasure. From each monologue comes a theme of general female empowerment, yet some are easier to detect then others. Names of these monologues ranged from “My Angry Vagina” to “Reclaiming Cunt” to this year’s annual spotlight act called “Myriam.” 

Barb Foy, a cast member of this year’s production couldn’t contain her enthusiasm for the importance of what the Vagina Monologues mean to her, “It has empowered me as a woman,” Foy said, “It has to be done in every city in the world!”  

My first exposure to this production was during a Tuesday night rehearsal last week.  I was taking pictures of the different cast members and then all of the sudden I witnessed “The women who loved to make vaginas happy.”

My initial reaction to this act, which included varied orgasm moans, was shock, then laughter, then true empowerment.  Just after watching one of these real life stories brought to life on the stage, a feeling of riotousness washed over me and I felt the need to jump up on the stage and join those amazing women.

So the bottom line: go see it!