Monologues Address Issue

The V-Day Campaign returned to UConn with the annual showing of "The Vagina Monologues" this weekend. The show, which featured monologues that each deal with a different aspect of feminine sexuality, was performed by UConn students and sponsored by the Women's Center. According to pamphlet distributed at the show, "V-day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls." Specifically, this year's V-Day goal was to raise awareness of the plight of women in and around conflict zones and to promote peace worldwide.

Tickets to the show cost $10 for students and $12 for non-students, with the majority of the money being donated to local women's shelters. On opening night, the show managed to raise almost $1,700. In addition to raising money for charity, "The Vagina Monologues" also allowed audience members to experience a great show that ranged from hysterical comedy to deep tragedy.

One of the audience's favorite vignettes seemed to be "My Angry Vagina," performed by Nkao Zer Yang. In the monologue, Yang talked about all the "tortures" that society had created in order to "torture vaginas." Yang's performance had many of the women in the audience nearly falling on the floor with laughter as she lamented about everything from tampons to duck-lips.

Another of the most popular monologues was "The Woman Who Loved To Make Vaginas Happy," performed by Christine Torda. In the vignette, Torda played a sex-worker who specialized in pleasuring women. To illustrate her experiences, Torda's character stood on stage for nearly five minutes, imitating the sounds of orgasms from all sorts of women, ranging from college students to Irish Catholics.

"The sounds that [Torda] made and her performance overall ought to earn her a Tony nomination, at the very least" said Leo Roytman, a 4th-semester business major.

Other monologues were particularly touching and poignant. "Say It," a monologue performed by Amanda Friedman, highlighted the horrific conditions forced upon the "comfort women" in Japan during World War II. The vignette spoke about women being forced to have sex with as many as 50 men in one day and about the Japanese government's refusal to apologize for sanctioning this atrocity. This particular monologue caused nearly the entire audience to cry for the horrors these women had endured.

"The important thing about this show is not necessarily that it's great entertainment, which it is," said Alla Nebrat, a 4th-semester business major. "It's also important because it highlights so many important societal issues that affect women worldwide."

Another moving monologue was "Because He Liked to Look at It," performed by Allyssa Milan, a 4th-semester sociology major. In this piece, Milan's character spoke about how she had always been ashamed of her vagina, until one day she met a man named Bob who was "a vagina connoisseur." Although the character admits that the story didn't happen in "the most politically correct way," the story is touching because Bob made Milan's character feel beautiful and proud of her vagina.

According to Milan, "this character is really great because she didn't feel comfortable with her body or with her sexuality for a long time. And I think a lot of women are like that - I think a lot of women can relate to that."

On a more personal note, Milan added that her first exposure to the show had been last year as a member of the audience.

"After the show, I heard so many audience members ask performers about how they could get up on stage and say the things they did. And that's really what made me want to be in the show so badly this year. I wanted to get up on stage be really comfortable with myself - just like my character," Milan said.

"The Vagina Monologues" was performed Saturday and Sunday and will be shown Monday at 8 p.m. in von der Mehden Recital Hall.