I went to watch this last night with a few of the Sayoni girls. It would be a crime for me to miss this when it is finally playing in Singapore. Eve Ensler’s celebrated groundbreaking play was given a local flavour by director Loretta Chen, produced by Zebra Crossing.
The monologues is basically a series of short skits telling different stories of women – of love, of sex, betrayal, relationships, empowerment, femininity. I have never seen the Eve Ensler original, but I suppose that means little when this play is supposed to be an evolving piece that accomodates the changing nature of society, and in this case, was given a thoroughly local makeover. So, free from the comparisons from the original, I would say this is mostly a pretty good production in terms of acting, casting and direction. If it were not the last day, I would highly recommend people to go watch it.
The various skits were alternately touching, heartbreaking and funny. It started off with a monologue by an Indian woman about her vaginal hair which her husband found unpalatable, then going into what can only be described as the Vagina Circle – group of women sitting around examining their vaginas, except they were wearing army uniforms and taking orders. An allusion to militant feminism? Perhaps. Notably, there was the original-but-modified chorus of 12-year old girls describing their first periods, who terrorised the first three rows of the audience by walking among them, and distributing (even throwing) sanitary napkins. There was the older woman who couldn’t say the word “vagina”, but held up her hand in a V-sign instead of verbalising it, talking about the experience where she was finally able to “love” her vagina. A woman ranted about the treatment her vagina was getting from the society (which was really funny and insightful) through tampouns, douches and OG/GYN tools. Then of course, the completely controversial originally-13-but-modified-to-18-for-singapore girl who found healing from her traumatic sexual experiences through an experience with an older woman. A pole dancer pranced around for a few minutes, before a group of women sang about their short skirts. A male-to-female-transsexual talks about her femininity and her trials over it. A female dominatrix waxed lyrical about her experiences with giving women pleasure (which was probably the funniest part about the play), where all the different kinds of moans were enacted out, culminating the famously vocal “triple orgasm”. Finally, there was the monologue about childbirth, from various perspectives.
One of the values of the play is that it is highly gay-friendly. Same-sex relationships are portrayed positively – one of the controversies about the play, of course.
One of my main complaints is that it was discomfitingly tokenised in terms of race – Chinese, Malay, Indian. Furthermore, I don’t find it funny when people spout random tamil phrases for laughs, and especially when it is not in context. No one, and I mean no one, says “Thank you” in Tamil during sex. Secondly, what was the pole dancer about? Yes she was fun to watch, but I don’t believe it added any value to the play except pull in the straight male audience.
All in all, I would say this was a well-done production, especially with the high standards people are going to hold this to.
Comments
jin said,
October 13, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Hi Pleine. My 2-cents says that the pole dancer on the surface merely serves as eye-candy, but on a deeper level, she represents the woman who makes a living by using her body. Every day (or perhaps, night) that she goes to work, she is portraying that idealised female form which draws her straight male clientele. The woman who is lithe, sexy, tantalizing, risque (and bloody athletic – did you see her scale the pole?!). So in the context of the show, she is the ambiguous character, the wild card who would (or should) spark debates and controversy between second-wave feminists and third-wave feminists.
AnJ said,
October 14, 2008 at 9:04 pm
It’s apparent that Skot doesn’t know what feminism means. A bunch of fanciful words amounting to nothing. It’s not intelligent; most certainly not an argument. “Skot” looks familiar, and these similar rants are getting boring. Is there no penalty for the mindless “ranter”, especially an incorrigible one?
jj2007 said,
October 14, 2008 at 9:48 pm
I thought that the Vagina Monologues was really well done. Not only did it contain light comedy on sex & vaginas, it also addressed lots of issues pertinent to women today. It is not often that u will see the joys and the pains of womenhood portrayed in a play. The scene about what it meant to be a mother was touching. Kudos for speaking up against female circumcision, rape and spousal abuse.
shoveya said,
October 14, 2008 at 11:47 pm
I had the pleasure of watching it and I thought it was good. I’m one of those who won’t talk about their vagina and all that emotional stuff. From the play, I now understand how talking about it gives a sense of empowerment and confidence. I really liked the ’short skirt’ part, it doesn’t just apply to ladies who like their skirts short, but also to anyone who doesn’t ‘conform’. Just coz I don’t wear a skirt doesn’t mean I’m not a lady, etc… For me, the play was about all kinds of women. Bonus points for the funny parts
AnJ said,
October 15, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Actually i am not so sure that they depicted same-sex dynamics well. Lesbian women appear to be most sexually in touch with themselves and others in the play… and that’s about it. Of course to be far, the show is not about sexual orientation. I think it has done a great job just saying what it said, breaking through mindless conventions.
loretta chen said,
October 16, 2008 at 6:25 pm
hi thanks for all your feedback on VM. I am very grateful for all your support and criticism. As a director, you suffer the contradiction of having to both be confident in putting your vision out there; receiving feedback AS well as being vulnerable so you can always be sensitive to attitudes, views and be on the forefront of change.
In response to some of your queries on the pole dancer – she was meant to be controversial – so i am glad she did catch your attention. I appreciate JIN’s read of the pole dancer – she was for me 2 things
1) A celebration of the female form – in her athleticism, femininity and sensuality
2) A direct confrontation with the traditional striptease and notion of woman as sex symbol, object. i wanted to challenge the notion of women as SEX. by juxtaposing the SHORT SKIRT and the pole dancer, the women’s bodies as mere sexual objects were questioned – the pole dancer invited the traditional “gaze” whereas in the next scene the 4 women reclaimed their femininity, subjectivity and challenged the staid notion of women as “object” and “to-be- looked-at-ness”
3) An invitation to provoke and court controversy – which i am glad it did- for better or for worse.
As for ANJ, some of my other plays are more avowedly lesbian. this one is not so as it is not the lesbian monologues but the vagina monologues. in fact, the addition of the lesbians are already an indication of me pushing the envelope as eve ensler did not even have full fledged lesbian characters. the only mention of one is in the coochie snorcher (vacuum cleaner, 18 yr old, older woman) scene. as a director, i can only work with the text at hand but am unable to change the author’s writings as eve is particularly protective over her works. (you should read the programme where i gave a long explanation :-P ) but i will look for a piece that “depicts same-sex dynamics well” – and will definitely appreciate it if you can find one for me – i will love to read it and we can perhaps discuss how we want it staged
No artistic vision ever pleases all. in fact, nothing pleases everyone which is what makes this world exciting and infinite in possibilities– but the importance is in getting a particular vision of our world across. for me , it is that basic respect for difference. everyone’s take on sexuality (and all other issues) is different and all are entitled to their view/s. in fact, being a lesbian makes me all the more open and accepting to all views/opinions/criticism whilst making me braver and stronger every day. so i do appreciate all your feedback. thank you all for watching. it means a lot to me. all best, loretta xoxo
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