All right – once and for all – this is how you do it. First, gently bite your lower lip, then push air softly past the fleshy folds of your mouth until your lips pop open and say, “Vuh”.
You can place greater emphasis on the “V” sound to create tiny vibrations, but don’t try that little trick until you’re a pro.
Next, clench together – not too tightly – your teeth, drop your jaw, and let out a fast burst of breath with the soft “G”. Then curl your lips back, flatten your tongue, that’s it, and utter “G-I” – with a long “I” sound. The final drop of your jaw (if it hasn’t happened already) coupled with another long “Uh!” and you should be there.
Note: everyone goes at their own pace, but it all culminates with, VA-GI-NA. Please try it again: Vagina, Vagina, and Vagina. Yes, that’s it. That’s IT! Yes, yes, yes! You have taken your first step towards understanding “V-Day”.
“V-Day” was born in 1998 as a non-profit organization that funds grassroots groups working to stop violence against women. The Family Place, a Dallas organization to help survivors, will benefit from any money the Vagina Monologues raises on the SMU campus.
In other words, you can be entertained by a stage production that sold out Madison Square Garden like a Knicks/Bulls game while helping to end violent acts against women and young girls in the Dallas area.
Vaginas and women constitute the centerpiece of annual fundraising performances that happen all over the world. The 2003 V-Day finds vaginas well represented with over 1,000 shows occurring around the globe in February and March. Millions of dollars will go to the victims of violence: 14 million from North American performances alone.
As put by one reviewer at the Dallas Voice, “A little vagina goes a long way.”
Indeed, the unspeakable has turned into an international hit. According to the SMU production’s director Jerrika D. Hinton the monologues are unique in their generosity.
“As a playwright, for Eve [Ensler] to have forgone any payment . . . she doesn’t get royalties from this . . . nothing. That’s amazing,” Hinton says.
The show started off-Broadway and grew to be performed in 40 countries – translated into 35 different languages – in the past six years. Hundreds of celebrities have taken part in a show that celebrates women and their once unspeakable component.
When you tackle an unspoken issue as Ensler did, you might be surprised at what you hear.
“I decided to talk to women about their vaginas, to do vagina interviews, which became the Vagina Monologues. [Women] were a little shy, but once they got going, you couldn’t stop them,” said Ensler when the monologues first began.
Determined to get women to talk about “down there,” Ensler conducted over 200 interviews.
“I talked to older women, younger women, married women, single women, lesbians, college professors, actors, corporate professionals, sex workers, African-American women, Asian-American women, Native American women, Caucasian women, Jewish women,” Ensler said.
All the stories are from real people, and the scripts the actors read from during the show remind the audience of that fact.
“I do think that with the amount of time we’ve put into it, you definitely connect with every woman’s story,” says Rebecca Kraemer – a member of the SMU cast who also participated in last year’s production. “I embody the woman – that’s more what it’s about – she’s with me that way.”
After a performance, the stories of these women stay with the audience too. The illuminating vignettes Ensler adapted from the personal anecdotes of women she interviewed have been described as frank, witty, hilarious, liberating, breathtaking and heartfelt.
Portrayed by the actors on stage, the long-taboo subject can be empowering through the naked honesty of real women’s own experiences; the secret place revealed in words.
But is SMU “vagina friendly?”
Hinton looks at the monologues as “a starting point for conversation on vaginas.” Last year’s performance was a hit, raising thousands of dollars for The Family Place and proving for Hinton that SMU can have its progressive moments.
“Vagina is the technical term. People who take offense don’t surprise me, but will forever amuse me,” Hinton explains.
Vagina is said 136 times in the original show, but the monologues are meant to be a celebration of women. There is comedy, strong language and serious even distressing monologues, but no male bashing. The show works to exemplify that violence is the last thing on a vagina’s mind.
More important than the word “vagina” is the impact the single word has had on the world. SMU, like many places, has felt the weight of the word’s meaning.
“I’m more comfortable talking about women’s issues because I can talk to other people about the show,” says one cast member, Lynn. “I feel like I’m doing something important.”
As part of the supporting cast, Lynn and Jennifer both believe the performance has brought them together with other women on campus to speak openly about themselves and support each other.
The cast of “vaginas” is made up of students from all over campus, studying a variety of disciplines. But don’t underestimate the amateurs – they believe in “faking it” to the point that you can’t distinguish these vaginas from the off-Broadway crowd.
The cast also has a unique and local flare. Shilpa K. Gandhi will be performing her student-written monologue, “Silent Storm but Not Anymore,” touching on many of the central themes of V-Day.
The second annual benefit production of Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues will be performed in the Hughes-Trigg theatre. Try it. You might like it. And if you’ve come before, come again. Come multiple times, if you wish.
