Vagina Monologues - Athens, GA style
Feb. 22nd, 2011 10:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
colorlessgreenideasSo on Friday, Brittany and I went to see the Monologues on campus. I haven't seen them put on since 2007, and I was interested to see a totally new cast (to me) put them on, and support a good cause. That, and Brittany'd never seen them before, although she read up on some before the show.
In sum, it was GREAT! The cast was small-ish, about 20 women, and rather more diverse than the old Mary Wash crowd. There were older women in the cast, for one, and a few middle-aged as well. The woman who did The Flood really was in her 70s, and at the end of the show she shared that she was a survivor of both ovarian and uterine cancers, which lent an extra weight to her performance. There were some reinterpretations of familiar monologues, which were either a choice of the cast or of the Monologues, but either way worked spectacularly. The Vagina Workshop was a 5-woman number, and they all went through a basic yoga routine while performing. The lack of standing microphones really made a difference, as did the cast's memorization of lines. Cunt, not my favorite monologue at best and a least favorite at worst, came out on top this time. The woman really owned the piece and turned it into a rich and flavorful spoken-word piece. My Short Skirt was not presented, which made me sad. The girl who did Because He Liked to Look at It managed to squash the best line of the piece ("What are you doing, Bob?!!?") but did so well otherwise that I forgive her. The last piece, Myriam, was good, but felt like it was missing something. Maybe it's just because I've heard so many powerful monologues, and this one didn't feel like it matched up. Or because it didn't seem to really be about her, or about women-specific issues, so much as OMG Haiti Sucks Right Now. Which is a fine topic to cover, and all.... it just felt forced, to me.
All in all, a wonderful evening, with fine company.
In sum, it was GREAT! The cast was small-ish, about 20 women, and rather more diverse than the old Mary Wash crowd. There were older women in the cast, for one, and a few middle-aged as well. The woman who did The Flood really was in her 70s, and at the end of the show she shared that she was a survivor of both ovarian and uterine cancers, which lent an extra weight to her performance. There were some reinterpretations of familiar monologues, which were either a choice of the cast or of the Monologues, but either way worked spectacularly. The Vagina Workshop was a 5-woman number, and they all went through a basic yoga routine while performing. The lack of standing microphones really made a difference, as did the cast's memorization of lines. Cunt, not my favorite monologue at best and a least favorite at worst, came out on top this time. The woman really owned the piece and turned it into a rich and flavorful spoken-word piece. My Short Skirt was not presented, which made me sad. The girl who did Because He Liked to Look at It managed to squash the best line of the piece ("What are you doing, Bob?!!?") but did so well otherwise that I forgive her. The last piece, Myriam, was good, but felt like it was missing something. Maybe it's just because I've heard so many powerful monologues, and this one didn't feel like it matched up. Or because it didn't seem to really be about her, or about women-specific issues, so much as OMG Haiti Sucks Right Now. Which is a fine topic to cover, and all.... it just felt forced, to me.
All in all, a wonderful evening, with fine company.
