Many people are still instantly transported back to immature giggles and awkwardness from sex-ed in elementary school every time they have to say the word “vagina.”
Carleton’s production of The Vagina Monologues will still induce fits of child-like laughter but this time it will be from women’s stories on issues that definitely go past your typical sex 101 class.
Tickets, which benefit the Ottawa Rape Centre, are on sale in advance for $10 at the Womyn’s Centre and will be $12 at the door for the performances March 5 and 6 in the Minto Centre. The play is co-directed by April Nebril and Samantha Normandin who both perform in it.
The taboo of the word vagina does attract a lot of attention, but what deserves more attention is the dialogue that the monologues spark, Normandin said.
“Most people want to know what it’s about,” she said. “We’re talking about vaginas very openly.”
In the monologue “Reclaiming Cunt,”a woman describes her love for “cunt” by dissecting it acrostically with words like clit, urge, next and tantalizing.
In “Hair” a woman describes the need for pubic hair and manages to get in a few impressions of a German marriage therapist.
The humour is anything but dry unlike the “dry fucking wad of cotton” (a.k.a. tampon) that one performer expressively and humorously rants about in addition to other things, such as douches that “torture” vaginas.
Normandin, who has a history degree from Carleton, said the monologues are more than funny.
“They teach people to not just be accepting of their bodies but to be appreciative of what they have — acceptance and pride of their differences and what happens when people are not tolerant,” she said.
The play confronts darker issues with “My Vagina Was My Village,”which is a Bosnian woman’s testimonial of her experience in a rape camp.
It is not meant to portray rape victims as broken and victimized but to demonstrate their ability and strength to move forward, said Sharrae Lyon, who performs itwith Nebril.
“There is the pain and the ability to continue living. There’s something beautiful in that,” Lyon, a second-year human rights student, said.
The play is performed annually for VDay, founded by Ensler to raise awareness about violence against women. A new monologue is released by Ensler annually to highlight an important issue. This year the spotlight piece will be “Teenage Girls Guide to Surviving Sex Slavery.”
Across Ottawa many other organizations have joined the VDay movement. There are performances of the monologues at the University of Ottawa and at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC).
Rima Zabian, who has been involved with VDay for seven years and is the producer of the NGC’s production this year, said while the play does have a shock value, it functions on multiple levels to touch all audiences with its humour and its darker stories.
“When someone goes to watch it, it’s not just the funny antics of the whole play that they get. It touches audiences and makes them want to be part of a big movement,” Nebril said.