Vagina Monologues: Disappointing

I saw the Vagina Monologues a few weeks ago and it was, for the most part, disappointing. Now keep in mind, this isn’t some closed-minded theatre hating fool telling you this. I love theatre and enjoy serious topics as well. However, this play was not all it was cracked up to be.

I guess I should’ve seen it coming, but this play was about….simply….vaginas.

Walking into the lobby of the theatre, I thought I was getting an idea of what this play was about. There were these high school girls rehearsing their “acceptance” skit, where they talk about how it is unacceptable for women to be abused. The decorations of the lobby indicated a similar theme. There were shirts that talked about abuse, being protected by a mother, etc. I thought this play would be pointing out how women are abused today, and how they will no longer stand for it.

I was there early so I watched some ladies from a local organization setting up a table. They put out informational pamphlets and freebies like a sticker that says “Hands are not for hitting”. And then, the piece de resistance that should’ve made me wonder about the literal nature of the play was laid out on the table. More freebies that were unusually-shaped chocolate lollipops. Upon closer inspection I saw that they were, no doubt about it, chocolate vaginas on a stick.

My friend Amber arrived and I pointed out the strange lollipops to her. I said, “I’m a chocolate lover, and I don’t care that it’s not the real thing, I’m not eating anything that looks like part of the human anatomy. Remember that girl from the meeting last night with the Technicolor penis lollipop?”

The doors opened, and Amber and I sat way in the front. Once again, the decorations of the slogan T-shirts were everywhere, reinforcing some good ideas.

Then the play started, and I realized how literal the title was. The first girl talked about hair. Awkward. Another character was an elderly woman who was taught to pleasure herself. Another character had a lesbian encounter when she was younger. The T-Shirts, the pamphlets, and the opening skit by the high school girls had all lied to me. This play was not deep. It did not teach a lesson, like how abuse can come in many forms. It was simply about vaginas.

I know people have mixed feelings on this play. Some people love it, some people are like me. To me, there were a few scattered funny lines intermixed with stories I didn’t want to hear and experiences that were, for the most part, very peculiar.

The Vagina Monologues was useless to me because it accomplished nothing. It was not progressive, did not fit with the theme that the decorations suggested, and wasn’t interesting to me.

Now, this isn’t me telling you “Don’t go see this terrible play”. We all have our own opinions on things, and as you’ll probably see in the “Related entries” section, there are people who enjoyed the play. I however, fail to see the point.