Genital mutilation? Pubic hair? Vaginal apparel? If any of these strike your fancy, then you should have attended the Vagina Monologues. This production was performed at Signal Peak by students and staff on February 25th and 26th. A mixture of funny and emotional monologues and vagina fun-facts filled the auditorium with emotion. Monologue topics ranged from transgender women, to violence and oppression, to the different kinds of moans a woman makes during sex. The show concluded with a few personal stories of the cast members.

From start to finish, the production was emotionally moving, especially for the cast. The ladies felt a mix of emotions, from empowered, to vulnerable, safe, to nervous. One of the cast members, Savannah Grottenthaler, commented on the “sense of sisterhood” she felt with the other women in the cast. Savannah also shared “I felt like I was part of these women’s stories from around the world, and I was giving them a voice where they do not have one.”

A favorite monologue among the women was “My Vagina Was My Village”. This monologue was especially daunting, as it goes through a woman’s perspective of her own vagina; a perspective that was once positive and compared to the beauty of flowers, and is now one that is disgusted, and afraid of going anywhere near it. The woman in the piece was a victim of rape during war. This piece was beautifully performed by Meghan Ramos, a 20-year-old student. She described her emotional pull toward this monologue by sharing the fact that “this is happening to real people.”

After the performances of written monologues, the women shared stories of their own, stories that made them feel less than their worth. Heaven Stricklin, another actress, shared a story of her high school theater teacher telling her to appeal to men more, and to lose weight in order to be placed in the roles she wanted. She said “The first time I said it out loud I was just sobbing for a while.”

The Vagina Monologues was an emotional roller coaster, and although the audience was small, the room was filled with positive energy. The women did an exemplary job at portraying their roles, and the director, Dr.Christina Marin, did a marvelous job at putting on the production. My favorite aspect of the play was the fact that the women all had matching binders to read their monologues from. I saw this as another way to unite the women and make a point that they are standing as one. The Vagina Monologues was everything you could expect it to be, in the best way.