On March 14, 21 and 22, McGill Students for V-Day present The Vagina Monologues, the iconic feminist play by Eve Ensler. When I saw the press preview on Monday, there were still a couple issues to be worked out, but the production has one very important aspect that will guarantee its success: all of the students involved are passionate about understanding the play’s shortcomings and critiques. They collaborated on writing an extensive disclaimer to be presented in the program, and announced at the beginning of the show, to make sure their audience is aware that the play is imperfect; it does not represent all women, and it is in many ways an outdated and stereotypical reflection on women’s experiences. Nevertheless, it carries significant weight as a piece of theater and a work of art, and is overall a very enjoyable production with an important message.
I sat down with director, Grace Jackson, and two actresses, Maddie Lusk and Erin Strawbridge, to discuss the show. It started off as a simple interview, but before long the three women engaged in a very meaningful discussion on the play, with so much relevant content said in such an impactful way, that I decided to include most of the transcript. There is a very potent sense of collaboration and camaraderie, which is manifested in the show as well.
HC: what makes this show important?Grace: Opening up the discussion of feminism. It’s not a perfect play, it’s very incomplete, and a lot of stuff needs to be adjusted or worked through. Our show in particular will allow for more discussion about the play itself, more criticism, what is wrong with the play and what is great about the play.Erin: We invite people to think more critically on what are some real issues in feminism that aren’t touched on.
HC: How much is this a theater production, and how much is it a statement?Erin: It is theater, not our own political stance, but no other pieces of theater invite you to have this critical discussion. It has that political background, but it is still a theatrical piece.Grace: There is a huge element of acting that is involved, there is that manipulation associated with theater, but then there’s also the aspect that it’s based on interviews, and that sort of makes it into a reflection on the world, and certain people’s experiences. Maybe half and half.Maddie: This play still holds up as a piece of art and still has political valence, that being said, we’ve tried to think about where the personal and political line up for us in the context of what we’re showing you; were asking the audience to think – how do you feel watching this, do you feel represented, and if not, what do you want to do about it? It’ll make you feel things, it’ll make you laugh, if you’re in a rough spot it might make you cry.
HC: How do you envision the evolution and the future of this play?Maddie: It was written in 1996, at the start of third wave and intersectional feminism, but very reminiscent of second wave. Between then and now, it’s been so wonderful – we can have intersectional analysis, and feminist academia, feminist theory and feminist critique is constantly evolving. As we start listening to people more in the world of feminism and really acknowledging the importance of intersectional identity, the criticisms that have been leveled become more tangible, because we now know more and we think more and we think more critically. I think half the monologues need to be taken out, and instead replaced with a new take on this entire piece called Down There.Grace: Down There is the same sort of premise, but people write their own monologues and then they either perform them or find an actor that they feel comfortable having perform it. We are doing an alternative monologue workshop: all of the audience is going to be invited and we are going to give them the opportunity to write their own monologue from their own personal experience.
HC: One monologue in particular, “Coochie Snorcher,” is especially controversial. What did you do to address that, as well as other broader issues in the play?Maddie: “Coochie Snorcher” was the first thing that we talked about; before we started rehearsing, we just sat down and talked about it, feelings, issues, we got stuck on it for a long time, because it’s an important story to be told – that of a survivor – but it frames queer identities in a controversial way. Consent was discussed, as well as power dynamics, and we asked, “Do we condone this?” Obviously any survivor deserves support, but this person doesn’t consider themselves having been sexually assaulted so it’s really intricate and very nuanced. It’s incredibly problematic, and we’re aware of that. All of the voices of groups that are expressed or experience oppression – all of the rhetoric that is about them just propagates shitty stereotypes. It is important to remember that all of these are written through Eve Ensler’s voice, through the voice of a straight white cis woman. Stories of people who experience oppression are written through the voice of this incredibly privileged woman.Erin: It makes us uncomfortable, that’s the relevancy of this type of feminism.Grace: It is interesting that this was the story chosen to represent queer women. Minorities are all portrayed in a really upsetting way. This is our interpretation of one person’s interpretation of a whole bunch of stories. When one person does something it’s not ever going to encapsulate every single person, and its not going to fix everything, and the reason why we’re doing the Down There monologues is because that will hopefully be an aid in solving these problems that we’re thinking of, but with The Vagina Monologues it begins the conversation. It has things it does wrong and things it does well, and I think that’s really good
HC: What do you expect the male audience to take from this?Grace: There are quite a few experiences that the opposite gender won’t understand, just like looking at a person who is not you – that person will have experiences that you don’t know and don’t understand. What people can get is probably just in general understanding and learning empathy. Just watching and experiencing others’ experiences gives you empathy. Men who do come will gain that empathy, they’ll benefit from it, and that will eventually benefit us.Maddie: It is not my job to teach you about sexism, it’s your job to learn (as a man). It’s not our job to make a space for men in this feminist forum, it is their job to make space in their lives for feminism.
HC: What are some of the hardest things you’ve had to deal with in producing this play?Maddie: I want to do this because I really like acting and certain pieces speak to me, but at the same time I so thoroughly disagree with the politics of this pieceErin: There’s been a lot of cognitive dissonance; my solace is that we are working to improve and are inviting people to criticize. I’d never defend it to anyone – we want people to recognize flawed feminism. It’s an amazing theatrical performance so we can critique and move forward.
HC: How has this experience brought you all together, and what have you learned from one another?Maddie: Every woman in this production is just a kick-ass lady. We share things that we know. We’re also willing to share our experiences and our thoughts to understand and listen to each other when we talk about criticism.Erin: It’s an open forum, we all built off each other, and that shaped how we presented these.Grace: It’s helpful to create this play with people who were experienced, and also those who could bring new opinions that weren’t based on ever having seen the play. It was a very diverse group of minds.
To see these talented women perform a series of thoughtful, funny, heartbreaking, and outrageous series of monologues that cover various topics including sexuality, rape, birth, and orgasms, buy tickets soon: $10 for students/youth/seniors, and $15 for adults/non-students. They can be purchased at AUS SNAX, at the door, or by reservation at tickets.vdaymcgill@gmail.com. Box office opens at 7pm, doors at 7.30, and show starts at 8. The proceeds will go to three charities in Montreal: Shield of Athena (http://shieldofathena.com/), WomenAWARE (http://www.womenaware.ca/) and Head & Hands (http://headandhands.ca/). The show runs on March 14, 21, and 22 in Leacock 132.
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