After considering ending their production of the “The Vagina Monologues” due to disagreements over the lack of diversity in last year’s show, members of the Women’s Center accepted nominations for women to fill the roles instead of holding auditions this year.
In a celebration of female empowerment and sexuality, the Women’s Center is producing a rendition of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues,” with the first showing starting tonight.
The monologues are based on interviews with more than 200 women about their vaginas. The monologues range from “My Angry Vagina” to “The ‘Smell’ List.” The monologues’ themes include the way women feel about their vaginas, what their vaginas would say or wear, menstruation, tampons, gynecologist appointments and many other aspects of womanhood and sexuality.
This year’s cast, made up of University students and faculty as well as community members, features women from numerous racial and economic backgrounds and different sexual orientations, said sophomore Haley Rabago, a participant in the show. After cast members were nominated, they read through the monologues and picked the roles they would most like to perform.
“After picking roles, we were given worksheets to fill out about the women we were portraying,” Rabago said. “We had to think about stuff like her name, her education, her sexuality and the different activities she did.”
“We have to remember that they aren’t our stories, they are someone else’s,” said high school student Cory Kirshner-Lira, who is also participating in the show.
The performance is a series of monologues and group tag-team approaches to other roles. At a rehearsal Wednesday, three women practiced the “wear and say list” with a variety of responses. At the end of the “say list,” the monologue ended with “more! more! more!” as the woman arched her back and ran her hands through her hair. The performance was met with laughter and applause, and as the lights came back on, a cast member exclaimed: “She has sex-hair!”
“After each monologue, there is spontaneous applause and a feeling of ‘you go, girl; you did great,’” cast member and Vice President of Student Affairs Anne Leavitt said.
English and women’s and gender studies instructor Ann Ciasullo was nominated for a role in “The Vagina Monologues” by a student and is performing “My Angry Vagina.” Her monologue is about a woman who is “pissed off at the way we treat our vaginas,” Ciasullo said. “It’s about tampons and gynecologists, and there is a lot of swearing.”
Ciasullo chose to participate in the monologues because of the direct correlation to the subjects she teaches.
“It’s educational and empowering,” Ciasullo said. “It’s funny and moving, and both men and women could learn a lot about women by seeing it.”
Other women chose to be in the monologues because of the awareness the production raises for women’s issues.
Senior Margaux DeRoux came back from studying in France and was told about the nominations by a friend.
“I didn’t really have expectations. … The more I know about it, the more excited I get,” DeRoux said. “It forces you to be honest with yourself and women’s place in the world.”
The monologues open Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Agate Auditorium. The show will also be Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets are $7 for students and $10 for the public. Tickets are available at the University Ticket Office.

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