Interview: The Vagina Monologues

The Vagina Monologues is part of V-Day, an organization that Eve Ensler set up to help use the play as a means of activism. The show is a compilation of monologues written by women about feminism, rape, sex, sexism and, more generally, being a woman. St Andrews’ feminist society puts on a production of the Vagina Monologues every year and, this time round, it has been directed by Marian Firke and Teddy Woodhouse.

Marian and Teddy, what made you rise to the challenge of directing this year’s Vagina Monologues?

Marian: This is actually the second time that I have co-directed a production of The Vagina Monologues. I’m a JYA, and my college back in the US also puts on The Vagina Monologues every year, and I am so thrilled to have the chance to co-direct here at St Andrews. I think that the monologues are an incredibly powerful tool for creating dialogue and helping people think about everything from rape during wartime to pubic hair in a new light. They’re very important to me, and getting to be part of the process from start to finish has been extremely gratifying.

Teddy: I was involved in last year’s production and became convinced of the benefit it gives back to the community in being held every year.  Besides just being a great fundraising opportunity for some fantastic organisations – this year’s production supporting Fife Rape and Sexual Assault Centre (FRASAC) – the production also opens up the space for people to talk about subjects they normally might not feel comfortable addressing. Sexual violence happens here, just as it happens around the world.  Sexual violence is hidden here, just as it is hidden around the world.  If we can do our part to buck that trend, we’re doing some good.

It sounds it! Last year’s monologues managed to balance the hilarious gags with the much darker and more serious material – is this a balance you have been striving to maintain?

Marian: Definitely. Vaginas can be very funny! Our goal is to do justice to every woman interviewed to create the monologues—and capturing both the good humour and the trauma of those experiences is very important to us.

There has been controversy in recent years over male participation in The Vagina Monologues. What is your take on this? 

Teddy: I was one of the male participants in last year’s show and, for me, participating in the show became one of the most rewarding experiences in my time here at St Andrews.  I think the show should be about bringing people together on these issues and encouraging everyone – men, women, and everyone in between – to take a personal stand to end violence against women and girls.

Marian: I think it’s great that men are so eager to step up and support the project, even though it isn’t in keeping with the intended spirit of the play. This year, our goal was to find an appropriate role for male allies that would still fall within the casting parameters that Eve Ensler sets out through V-Day. We encouraged men to audition for the production with the idea that a Men’s Ensemble could develop a companion piece to the monologues. But when only one male-identified person auditioned, we let that idea go. The turn-out for auditions this year was enormous, and we were absolutely thrilled with the choices we were able to make during casting. So it wasn’t an issue this year the way it has been in the past.

What makes The Vagina Monologues still so relevant to today’s vagina (and non-vagina) bearers?

Marian: I think a lot of people assume that, because the first production was in 1998, we’re somehow “done” with the issues that this play addresses—but that’s just not true. There is still a taboo surrounding discussion of vaginas—if there weren’t, I wouldn’t speak with actresses every year who are struggling to overcome their own discomfort with delivering the monologues in public. Every year, there are people in the audience who afterwards say that the play has made them consider issues they didn’t realize existed. If anything, some of the issues have become more relevant. When Eve Ensler first wrote the monologue “Hair,” for instance, shaving pubic hair was something of a niche or fetish. Now it’s very widespread, and more and more women are having conversations with partners about their pubic hair preferences.

Additionally, sexual assault is rampant on university campuses, making this issue particularly relevant to any St Andrews student. Whether we realise it or not, it’s statistically improbable for a university student to not know at least one person who has been sexually assaulted. In the US, one in five women in university has been sexually assaulted in her lifetime, and it is believed that the statistics are equivalent in the UK. So, these issues are real. The monologues are based on the real experiences of real women, and they continue to resonate with the real experiences of women today. Eve Ensler also revises the script every year, so the monologues that are being performed this year are not identical to the ones that were performed last year or the year before. There are many in common, but there are also many additions and deletions—so overall, the show can change quite a lot from year to year! 

If the sound of this tickles your fancy, be sure to make it to Buchanan on Thursday, Friday or Sunday at 7pm. It’s £5, and all proceeds go to the Fife Rape and Sexual Assault Centre.