Recent UCLA graduate Eileen Reardon isn’t worried about
having her boyfriend’s parents see her perform a monologue
this weekend. Considering the topic of her performance is vaginas,
this might seem like an awfully plucky attitude.
However, these days, it seems talking about vaginas no longer
carries the same shock value it once did. Since its 1998 debut, Eve
Ensler’s Obie Award-winning “The Vagina
Monologues” has reached a staggering number of audiences
worldwide, thus establishing the term vagina as an accepted
addition to our vernacular.
This means that Reardon, along with the 22 other UCLA students,
staff and faculty members who will perform the play in Moore 100
this weekend, probably won’t be blushing when they take the
stage. But it doesn’t mean that the message behind the
performance is any less relevant or important.
This weekend’s performances, kicking off Thursday with a
free show for students, is a part of the second annual V-Day
College Campaign initiated by Ensler. On or around
Valentine’s Day, over 600 campuses across the country will
host benefit performances of “The Vagina Monologues” to
raise money and awareness to stop violence against women and
girls.
UCLA’s V-Day event will benefit the UCLA Clothesline
Project, which organizes annual memorials remembering the victims
of sexual violence. The opportunity to help raise money for a good
cause is what drew many of the performers to audition for the
play.
“I would be involved in anything that helps advance the
cause of stopping violence against women. Even if I didn’t
get a part, I’m sure I would be doing something to help
out,” said Brenda Moore, a staff member from the
Registrar’s Office who will perform in the show for the
second time this year.
Several women who were involved in last year’s show have
come back to be involved again this year. Director and organizer
Tirzah Tyler, who designed the lighting last year, feels that
despite the fact that many people have seen the play by now, this
year’s performance will still seem fresh.
“Each woman has a different interpretation of the
monologues, so they just never get old. I don’t think
audiences are going to be bored,” said Tyler, a fifth-year
theater student.
Lending to the sense of novelty Tyler has tried to infuse in the
production by casting a culturally diverse group of performers,
this year’s show will also include two brand new monologues
that Ensler added to the College Campaign lineup.
One of those monologues, titled “Under the Burkha,”
adds a controversial element to the program by focusing on the
point of view of a woman who is forced to cover herself from head
to toe. Although Tyler was initially hesitant about including the
new piece because some Muslim women choose to wear a cover, she
ultimately decided that women who are forced to do so should have a
voice.
Original artwork, musical numbers and two pieces written by UCLA
students help round out the new additions to this year’s
show. Tyler asked a man and a woman to respond to the question:
“What would the world be like if there was no violence
against women?” and has included their responses in the
performance.
Even though many of the performers feel that today’s
audiences are, for the most part, “enlightened” enough
not to be shocked by the play’s content, some admit their own
family members may be exceptions.
“When I asked my aunt if she had heard of the play, she
said, “˜You’re in that vulgar show?'” said
Marilyn Kok, a fourth-year economics student. “But she is
coming to the show.”
Tickets are $12 through the Central Ticket Office for shows
Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 7 p.m. in Moore 100.
Tickets for Thursday’s free student performance are no longer
available.