It's just a word
World's Own Service, 01/05/2001
The Theater Club production of "The Vagina Monologues" is 8 p.m. Jan. 11-13, 18-20, 25-27 at the Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St. Tickets are $6-$8; reservations are available by calling 857-9154. ROBERT S. CROSS / Tulsa World
It's just a word, says Theater Club of Ensler's hit play, 'The Vagina Monologues'
Vagina. There, we've said it. Vagina, vagina, vagina.
Say it enough times, and this clinical term for a part of the female anatomy doesn't seem that sensational or offensive at all. At least that's what director Susan Webb and her cast found as they prepared for Theater Club's presentation of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues," which opens Thursday.
"It's just a word. As far as we're concerned, at this point, it could be called `The Tonsil Monologues,' or `The Elbow Monologues,' but it's about a private part," said Webb. She recalls a recent rehearsal at which the cast joked about referring to each other by their respective monologue titles.
"It was like the conversation was in the grocery store, and one woman said to another, `Oh, are you doing If Your Vagina Could Talk, What Would It Say? I'm doing My Angry Vagina. I just saw the woman who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy.' It dawned on us how cavalier we'd become about the whole thing. It's just become so conversational to us."
Which is exactly the aim the author was shooting for when she completed hundreds of interviews with women from all walks of life about their most private inner selves. The result is a poetic examination of women's private lives.
And a show that might redden the faces of those racy gals on "Sex in the City."
Ensler has said that she was "worried about what we think about vaginas, and even more that we don't think about them....At first, women were reluctant to talk. They were a little shy. But once they got going, you couldn't stop them."
The title is exactly what you'll see on stage -- monologues developed from interviews with women about their bodies. The language is frank, there are many comic moments, the stories are vivid, and the tales are sometimes uncomfortably personal. Pelvic exams, rape, orgasms and lesbian sex are among the subjects covered. An elderly woman, a sex worker, an abused child and a victim of mass rape in Bosnia are among the storytellers.
Since winning an Obie Award in 1997, the play has been a hit with audiences in New York. That success has continued as productions moved to Los Angeles, London and college campuses.
Ensler started out with a one-woman show starring herself. It then became and continues on Broadway as a three-woman effort that has attracted many of the premier actresses of multiple generations, including Patti LuPone, Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, Kate Winslet, Julie Kavner, Swoosie Kurtz, Julianna Margulies, Marlo Thomas, Rosie Perez and Rita Moreno.
Similar interest was shown by area actresses when auditions were announced for this play in Tulsa. Webb figured she would cast at least three women, but she left open the possibility for more. She has a cast of nine after more than two dozen candidates showed up seeking roles.
"I feel a real privilege being able to do the play, because it's groundbreaking for Tulsa and I feel like I'm part of something special," said Susan Little, who portrays a 65-year-old woman who, for the first time, discusses an embarrassing moment from her past in her monologue, "The Flood."
"Working with these other wonderful women has really reinforced that everybody has a story, and they can be funny or painful or heartwrenching. There are a lot of women who have secrets they don't tell anyone."
But the openness of the characters apparently hasn't prodded the women in the cast to talk as frankly about their own most private thoughts, at least in a group setting. Webb thinks it's important to note that these monologues are "highlights" from many interviews, with some dramatic license taken after that. None of the cast members would talk this openly about such subject matter in public, Webb believes.
"Oh, we talk, but certainly not as explicitly as these women do," said Liz Masters, who will participate in multiple monologues. She doesn't see anyone who attends walking out in the middle of a performance offended by the material -- including the men.
"I guess it depends on the man, but someone open-minded is going to find this entertaining," Masters said.
Theater Club members get together every couple of Sundays to read plays for possible production, and men and women alike took turns reading passages from "The Vagina Monologues" a couple of months ago. Webb recalls a female member commenting to the men in the room that maybe they would prefer the show if it were titled "The Penis Monologues."
"You don't get it," one of the men replied, according to Webb. "Men are always talking about their penis; or if they're not talking about it, they're thinking about it."
WHAT: Theater Club's production of "The Vagina Monologues" by Eve Ensler
WHEN: 8 p.m. Jan. 11-13, 18-20, 25-27
WHERE: Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St.
TICKETS: $6-$8, reservations available by calling 857-9154.
NOTE: This play contains mature subject matter.