by dick kerekes dickkerekes@yahoo.com
The brew-ha-ha over the hoohaa is over. The Vagina Monologues did its two day run last weekend to capacity crowds.
I was not asked to do this but it seems appropriate. On behalf of the show’s producers, Florida Coastal School of Law’s Students Against Violence and Tom Fallon, General Manager of Atlantic Theatre, I wish to thank the anonymous woman who complained about the word vagina on the billboard sign in front of the theater. The always gregarious Fallon, in a magnificent creative gesture, changed the word “vagina” to “HooHaa.”
The media, both print and electronic, picked up the story then CNN and the wire services and the worldwide Internet, and well the rest is history. The show sold out, and people were turned away! Ain’t America wonderful, especially the power of the press?
Oh, by the way, Mr. Fallon changed the sign back to vagina because of play licensing rules.
Since I was a veteran of three productions of Menopause-The Musical, I figured I was qualified to attend another play that was mainly for and about women.
The creator of the monologues, Eve Ensler interviewed over 200 women from very walk of life to explore the phobias about female sex organs (and particularly this body part) and sexuality.
Ms. Ensler is a supporter of V-Day, a movement to stop violence against women and girls. The two performances were a fundraiser by Florida Coastal School of Law for V-Day. I could go on for paragraphs about this group, but I would rather you go to vay.org and learn more about it. The “V” in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.
The show had twenty monologues of varying length with intriguing titles that included “I was 12 when my mother slapped me”, “My Angry Vagina”, “My Short Skirt”, “The Vagina Workshop”. Several titles were titillating but I will pass on them and let you discover them by going on the Internet.
The show requires some chairs or couches and a microphone and has been done by a varying number of performers starting with only one on up. This show has twenty lovely ladies, dressed in some type of black or red clothing (usually slips). Professor Ann Shortstein served as the Emcee and was the most conventionally attired.
Laura Crolla and Elisa Saavedra were co-directors of the show, which from open to close, was very professional. Almost all of the ladies are students at the law school, but in my opinion, if that career doesn’t work out, the stage awaits them. Yes, they were that good.
Just as in performances of Menopause the audience was mostly women, but there were probably a couple of dozen men (a lot of them the husband’s of the ladies on the stage, I suspected).
The material ran the gamut from very funny to sad and thought-provoking. It was certainly an education for me and I found it to be a very powerful message. A couple of the monologues seemed overly long, but I have to admit they made their point. This is a powerful show and every man and woman in a relationship should see it.
The members of this fantastic cast included Seda Aktas, Jessica Blackman, Amy DeLauter, Jessica Fagen, Nellie Fitzpatrick, Michelle Gomez, Nikki Ghanayem, Jennifer Jerome, Christi Kroesen, Renee Maxey, Lindsey Perry, Heather Wallace Rogers, Judith StClair and Jenny Yencareffi.
As a side note, the Atlantic Theatre is the hottest spot at the beaches, and there always seems to be something going on. The area is growing with new and interesting businesses. Bailey’s Powerhouse Gym just opened up a brand new million-dollar facility next door. Just three doors down from the theatre, I found a new Italian restaurant, Melissa’s Pizza, that just opened last week. I can certainly recommend the place for wonderfully prepared food at very reasonable prices.
Thank you Florida Coastal Law Students, for a great evening out and for raising money for such a worthy cause. I know you spend many hours of rehearsal to do this show, and you made it look so easy and truly professional.
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