When Amy Dominguez, co-president of the Women’s InterestNetwork, told the packed audience that they were in for a surpriseon Friday night in McFarlin Auditorium, she was right.

The monologues were bold, heartbreaking, hysterical, poignant,vulgar and compelling.

Each actress gave a passionate performance. Elizabeth Thornhillinfused life into her monologue, “The Flood,” with herthick Brooklyn accent, while Mimi Chandler’s monologue,”My Angry Vagina,” provoked laughter from thecrowd.

Chandler’s frustration with tampons and thongs was notonly clear, but something to which the audience could alsorelate.

Toward the end of the show, the audience could not hold backlaughter during Ashley Arendale’s recital of the manydifferent types of orgasmic moans.

Not every monologue was so high-spirited. “CrookedBraid” detailed the lives of Native American women who wereabused both physically and mentally by their husbands.

“The Memory of Her Face” shocked the audience intosilence with the descriptions of the cruelty that many women haveto endure in other parts of the world.

Nicolette Ochletree was able to convey the distressing situationto the audience with intensity.

Taylor Young’s monologue, “Because He Liked to Lookat It,” was refreshing in that it was the only one in which awoman had a positive experience with a man.

Her monologue was also about learning to love her body, whichwas an encouraging and prevailing theme of the evening.

From the reactions of the audience, the “VaginaMonologues” accomplished just what it set out to do: makewomen feel empowered and more comfortable with their vaginas, andthe audience more aware of the violence that females havesuffered.

“So much of what women endure because of their genderhappens on the other side of the world, so I don’t thinkabout it too often.

This show helped bring it to light for me and, I think, the restof the campus.” audience member Julie Kubik said.