Recently, I was invited by earthSista KireiNa to check out her performance, along with others, at an Atlanta showing of the Vagina Monologues. I knew little about the show. I’d seen it promoted before and knew of the press it had received in the past due to celebrity participation. I also knew it to be a a production in the form of a testimonial format. And I’d come to think of it as ‘a show by women for women.’ I did not know that the productions of the show were held for charitable purposes and that every woman that asked to be part of a the show had to be given a role. And I came to learn that founder/playwright Eve Ensler interviewed over 200 women when she created the original script for the Vigina Monologues.
This particular production was directed by Onyx Keesha and had a cast of 45 women that included earthSista KireiNa and Pangea Cultivator Nykeria Chaney. It was performed in association with National V-Day 2012. ”National V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against females. As much as I am proud, honored, and excited to share this production with the Atlanta audience it, was equally amazing to watch this cast use the opportunity to heal, share, and overcome their own personal struggles,” stated, Keesha. The proceeds from this show’s performances at Atlanta’s Horizon School Theater were donated to the Domestic Violence Survivors and Supporters.
I was moved. With humor and grace, the piece celebrated women’s sexuality and strength. The testimonials offered provocative insight into the psyches of women dealing with pleasures & passions, abuses & tragedies and acceptance; acceptance, not from the world around them but from themselves. The women participating in the production brought the testimonials to life employing their own inner passions, humor and sadness to enlist the emotional commitments from all of us who viewed them. It was longer than I thought it would be as I am sure there was original content not included in Eve Ensler’s original production. There was a stirring dance performance that I was glad to see. And, overall, I was not only entertained, I, also, walked away with a broader insight than I had before I walked.
Through this play and the liberation of the “vagina”, countless women throughout the world have taken control of their bodies and their lives. For more than twelve years, The V Monologues has given voice to experiences and feelings not previously exposed in public.
With all that said I still don’t know if the show is supposed to be ‘for women’ only. I do know that anyone who witnessed the performance I did, was fortunate to do so.
