The Vagina Monologues are an annual event put on by Vaginas Against Violence, or VAV, a Carleton University club for women and allies that aims to put a stop to gender-based violence. The Charlatan sat down with Sophie Kourtsidis, one of the directors of this year’s production, to talk about the upcoming show.
The Charlatan (TC): How is the planning of the show coming along?
Sophie Kourtsidis (SK): The planning is essentially done. We are in the final stages of acquiring funding from departments, picking up donations and promoting the show. But the actual planning of the show is all booked, everything else is up in the air. I also wanna say that it’s not just Marissa [Matthews, co-director] and I planning the show. It takes an army. It’s a wonderful and dedicated group of execs, without them, the show would not happen.
TC: What’s the cast like?
SK: The cast is good, they are very dedicated people. We have a lot of first-time performers, but I actually like that because when I’m directing them, they’re not really molded by anything else. It’s challenging to get things sometimes, but other times it’s good because they trust in you. I’m stoked.
TC: What can people expect at this year’s Vagina Monologues, especially people who’ve never been before?
SK: First and foremost, they’re about women’s issues. The monologues are funny, empowering, sad, heart-wrenching, but also inspiring. Overall, really inspiring show. We have trigger warnings for mentions of rape, sexual assault, or domestic violence because we acknowledge that those are themes that women experience. But we also have funny ones about hair, and being angry and wanting to make women happy. It revolves around women’s issues as it does about destigmatizing the vagina. For us as directors, as well as the cast and club, we acknowledge there’s an inherent transmisogyny in the equation of vaginas and womanhood so we acknowledge that. In my four years at Carleton, we’ve never had someone that is genderqueer performing, and this year we do, so it’s very exciting. We’re not only saying it this time, we are including it in the show.
TC: What does Vaginas Against Violence mean to you?
SK: It means something consistent in my life. Even though the women [in the club] haven’t been consistent as people graduate and leave, to me, it means something consistent. Every year I can come back and I know I’ll be a part of it and put my energy into the show and these women I surround myself with. It’s something I ground myself with.
TC: Are the monologues different this year with the current political atmosphere around women’s rights and the Trump era?
SK: They are. In quite a few, there are ad libs about the presidential debate and the election cycle. We’ve had discussions in the club about rape culture, and the show will reflect that. Our display to promote the show is a giant vagina, and every year I can tell people are a bit ashamed by it walking by, and I think that’s heightened this year. When you have a president that says “grab em by the pussy” and you’re ashamed of vaginas or think they’re gross even though you have one, it’s important to realize that internalized misogyny is a real thing. Wanting to celebrate the vagina and womanhood is not inherently problematic, so I think it’s important for anyone to come see the show, regardless of gender.
The show will take place March 25 at 7 p.m. and March 26 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Carleton’s Minto Centre. All proceeds from ticket sales go to the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre.
– Photo by Justin Samanski-Langille
