Loss of controversial Vagina hurts everyone
By Greta Newgren
I love to act, and when the opportunity to partake in The Vagina Monologues presented itself to me, I didn't flinch.
Besides being a great play, the show proved to be a source of sisterhood, liberation and empowerment for everyone who participated in its production. It is tragic that the theater department's recent decision to postpone the play's production for several years won't allow those following in my footsteps to do the same.
It is evident that the Santa Clara campus community is thirsty for liberal theater productions like The Vagina Monologues. Last March, the play made its second appearance on campus and was met with much success. All three shows sold out before opening night and raised over $2,000 in donations and ticket sales for Casa de Clara, a local shelter for displaced women.
Despite this success, the play has not found a permanent home at Santa Clara. Barbara Murray, chair of the theater department, said she doesn't find value in annually producing The Vagina Monologues.
And Murray is not alone. Many professors in the theater department have voiced the opinion that repeated production of The Vagina Monologues, even if it raises significant funds for charitable causes, does not allow enough variety in the department.
At the same time, both theater professors Frederick Tollini, S.J. and Barbara Fraser say they encourage liberal drama for the Santa Clara stage. Tollini believes such plays "hit on truth, and that's what they should do on a college campus." Does this "truth" not extend to The Vagina Monologues?
The theater department is currently working on productions with similar themes as The Vagina Monologues. However, "similar" is the key word. This spring Fraser directed Parallel Lives, a composition of vignettes addressing women's issues.
Next year Fraser has lined up Breast Entanglements, a play she describes as intending to "capture and tell women's stories, much like The Vagina Monologues." While these may be great examples of liberal theater, they will not take the place of The Vagina Monologues.
As it stands today, neither of these shows generates such awareness as Monologues. Neither show raises proceeds for a national campaign striving to stop the violence against abused women around the globe as does Monologues. Playwright Eve Ensler deliberately wrote the play to increase national awareness about abused women.
In a nutshell, the on-campus production of The Vagina Monologues was not intended to be a repetitive, boring stage play but to be a catalyst aimed at increasing awareness, raising money and revitalizing the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations.
The Vagina Monologues will continue to be performed on various college campuses and in major cities around the world. But until Santa Clara's theater department acknowledges the intrinsic benefit of this unique event, students will sadly have to look elsewhere to participate in this great experience.