Special to the Ebbtide
The Vagina Monologues, an Obieaward winning play that has attracted both praise and criticism, is coming to Shoreline Community College.
The Vagina Monologues will run February 9-11, with nightly showings at 7:30 p.m. at the Shoreline Community College Campus Theater. Tickets are available at the Student Program's Office, or by calling (206)546-4606. Prices are $10 general admission and $8 students admission with identification.
Originally written in 1996, The Vagina Monologues was a culmination of interviews that playwright Eve Ensler conducted with 200 women. The interviews focused on women's views on relationships, sex, and violence against females. Ensler wrote 22 monologues to begin with and now each year a new monologue is added to highlight current women's issues.
Katy Higgins, a student at SCC will direct the upcoming production at SCC. She recently stopped by the Journalistic Writing CMU 221 class for an interview.
Q: Have you ever directed a play before?
A: No, this is my first time directing, it's a new experience. I'm loving it so far. I've been doing theater for a few years now. We wanted a drama teacher to direct the play and we'd act in it, (but) Tony Doupe, an acting teacher on campus, asked me, “Why don't you do it?”
Q: Why did you choose this play?
A: Because the subject matter is so real and wonderful. I got the book a few years ago, and (it's a wonderful piece), I found myself reading over and over. I fell in love with it. It's so much stuff we think and feel as women. It's a brilliant piece. The hope is this is the first time the play is done here, not the last.
Q: What's different about your production of the play?
A: I think ours is unique. We have students, staff, faculty, and alumni in the cast. All in a united front to make this production happen. The FMLA (Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance) Club on campus is sponsoring us, and we're donating 100 percent of the proceeds. Ten percent is going to the V-Day organization (see story on this page) started by Ensler, 45 percent to the New Beginnings women's shelter, and 45 percent to Jubilee Women's Center. We've also added two new monologues to the play, My Short Skirt and Crooked Braid.
Q: What are some of the challenges you faced directing the play?
A: There were a lot of challenges finding lights, sound people, making schedules, getting people to show up on time and making sure the show will go smoothly. Because we're students, not faculty putting on the play we had to get funding for posters, scripts for a 22-person cast, and funding for sound people. We weren't able to get state funds since we're donating the proceeds. So we had an auction on December 6-8, with business donations as prizes, to raise the money. Also, Diana Knauf, who is a faculty member here, had trouble with saying the word cunt. She couldn't say it. And she's in a part about reclaiming the word cunt and how each letter is beautiful and makes a beautiful sound. Well, eventually she conquered her (distaste) for the word and now she gets up on stage and just nails (the part).
Q: Is there a particular monologue that you relate to?
A: I relate to all of them. I particularly like The Flood, about a 72 year old woman who has never seen her vagina or had an orgasm because of a bad experience she had when she was younger. At 72 she lights some candles, turns on some soft music and gets down with herself. I also like I Was There In The Room. It's about childbirth and gives me the chills. It's so visual. It's like being there when this baby is born.
Q: What would you say to criticisms of the play?
A: It's not about male-bashing. I hope everybody gets a whole bunch of feelings or emotions from it. I think men will get a better understanding of what we go through as women. The message is a woman's perspective on her body. In all the pieces in the play, the outcome is: the woman is stronger. From the play, I've learned to be more in tune with what I want and what I desire, to make my life better.
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