The Vagina Monologues
22/04/2010 - 24/04/2010
Production Details
Popular, controversial ‘Vagina Monologues’ is back
It’s been five years, but Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues returns to Auckland beckoning listeners to reconnect with the “unnamed, untamed and unknown” down there.
Playwright and activist Ensler’s off-Broadway hit has been so successful it’s spawned an internationally touring show and a nonprofit organization that supports work to stop violence against women and girls.
And for the first time, the controversial play returns to Auckland as part of VDAY 2010 to raise funds and awareness for Rape Prevention Education.
Anya Varezhkina and Colleen Olson on behalf of Auckland University Students Association are staging the show.
This is an exceptional event because The Auckland University Students Association has never dared to stage The Vagina Monologues before.
Some of the stats that VDAY aims to uncover for New Zealanders is that approximately one in four Kiwi females and one males in eight Kiwi males will be affected by sexual violence or abuse, most before the age of 16 and most rapists/abusers are known to the victim.
Abusers are more likely to be family, current partners, ex-partners, friends, boyfriends, acquaintances, people known through work and caregivers than strangers.
The show’s sketch topics range from mundane yet funny (menstruation, gynaecological exams, thong underwear and moaning styles) to truly poignant (rape, genital mutilation and their distressing statistics).
Each topic is tacked with equal passion, in a voice as changeable as the show’s tone.
As sharp as Sex and the City, as unmissable as Friends and as funny as Smack the Pony, this riotous evening is the ultimate night out — for guys and girls alike.
All profits from the production will go to charity, 90% to Rape Prevention Education and the remaining 10% to Power to the Women and Girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Hurry, the show typically ‘sells out’ fast and there are only three performances to book!
Show dates are 22nd, 23rd and 24th of April at 7:30 pm the Maidment Theatre, University of Auckland.
Tickets are available from the Maidment Theatre, 8 Alfred Street, Auckland
Private Bag 92019, Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland 1142
Private Bag 92019, Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland 1142
Call 09 308 2383 or http://www.maidment.auckland.ac.nz/.
About the producers
Anya Varezhkina was the director and producer of the very popular production of The Vagina Monologues in Hamilton last year. The production sold out all 3 nights and gained a lot of media publicity. She has also produced shows for the Fuel Festival and Duffy Books. Colleen Olson is a highly qualified American producer and director and this is her first major theatre work in New Zealand.
Cast and Monologues in order of appearance:
MC Colleen Olson
INTRODUCTION Anya Varezhkina, Jessica Mathews and Toni Tippett
HAIR Sarah Milsom
WHAT WOULD IT WEAR? Melissa Ferguson, Jordan Foulds and Chantelle Landais
THE FLOOD Virginia Frankovich
THE VAGINA WORKSHOP Jessica Mathews
THE VAGINA HAPPY FACT Colleen Olson
BECAUSE HE LIKED TO LOOK AT IT Jordan Foulds
NOT-SO-HAPPY FACT Colleen Olson
UNDER THE BURQA INTRO Amie Bentall
UNDER THE BURQA Ghazaleh Golbakhsh
MY ANGRY VAGINA Chantelle Landais, Sarah Milsom and Virginia Frankovich
MY VAGINA WAS MY VILLAGE
INTRO Anya Varezhkina
MY VAGINA WAS MY VILLAGE Amie Bentall
THE LITTLE COOCHIE SNORCHER
THAT COULD - INTRO Colleen Olson
THE COOCHIE SNORCHER
THAT COULD Toni Tippett
RECLAIMING CUNT Anya Varezhkina
THE WOMAN THAT LOVED TO
MAKE VAGINAS HAPPY INTRO Nicole Boyce
I WAS THERE IN THE ROOM
INTRO Colleen Olson
I WAS THERE IN THE ROOM Melissa Ferguson
Providing a voice and face for those who cannot
Review by Venus Stephens 27th Apr 2010
Vagina. Would the word have the same effect, when said aloud, if it were, say, a washing machine or a cell-phone brand? I think not.
Whilst chatting to a friend at the school crossing I made the social error of announcing, “I have tickets for The Vagina Monologues tonight.” One would have thought I’d picked up the nearest child and shaken it wildly while singing ‘Ave Maria’, by the reaction I got from the parents around me. I hasten to add, many, themselves, vagina owners. I mean what is the big bloody deal? I doubt if any of the cherubs around me came to be via ‘stork postage’ or Immaculate Conception.
Not one to be deterred by ‘sex organ snobbery’, I make my way to the Maidment Theatre, excited and very prepared to be educated thrilled and shocked all in the name of ‘that which is deemed private’.
Fifteen Monologues in total are vocalised this evening, each encouraging gasps of acknowledgement and cries of YES! as they exalt the vagina and ‘her’ secrets.
Snappy ushered introductions are made, cue cards in hand via spotlight.
The humour factor is high. No one is still, or unaffected. The monologues have their own personalities, derivative of the persons from whose lives they spring. Raw, honest and real time true. This is what we femmes talk about; we have these insecurities and odd relationships with our bits down there. In addition, yes, more often than not, we have a good laugh about it, with lovers, and friends but not – as I have so freshly figured out – parents at the school crossing.
Varied accounts, poignant and alarming, ignorant and sad. Words cannot document the spectacle I see in all the varied personae performing tonight. I can carry on about how funny and clever the show is, but you the reader are at a disadvantage, because of course you’re not here.
Sensitively, the uglier social issues in humankind’s midst are deconstructed for the stage. These monologues are powerful and telling in their rawness: ‘Under the Burqa’ a self-explanatory perspective given to the sunless existence of veiled women.
‘The Flood’ on the other hand is saddening in the context of loss. To briefly light its content, ‘The Flood’ is an elderly woman’s account of a life lived bereft of sexual intimacy. Brought on by an awkward teenage encounter, naively she cancels out a life of sexual pleasure. This monologue has a profound effect on me, a timely reminder to “never allow anyone to steal your peace.”
Five years on and Eve Enslers ‘The Vagina Monologues’ proves its quest to desensitise and demystify the treasure that is the vagina is still a hit, giving a fresh voice to age-old concerns and equally candid confessions about our ‘gear, down there’.
“This season of ‘The Vagina Monologues’ is being staged for the first time as part of VDAY2010 to raise funds and awareness for Rape Prevention Education by Producer/Directors Anya Varezhkina and Colleen Olson on behalf of Auckland University Student Association. 90% of the proceeds will go to Rape Prevention Education with the remaining 10% to the fund Power to the Women and Girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
It is heartening to see that young women in our community are willing to provide a voice and face for those who cannot. I commend their generosity and applaud their talent.
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