Though we may never know, it is not hard to look at the cast listing for Loyola’s production of “The Vagina Monologues” and say, “That would have been a great play.” But, that being said, I doubt that Loyola’s or any other non-professional group’s rendition of this play could match the power and presence of Tulane’s performance.
The monologues begin with an enormous amount of subtle power. All the performers dressed in black and various shades of pink and red enter onto the makeshift stage wearing different expressions on their faces that hint at the wide array of emotions to which the audience will be subjected throughout the night.
The monologues are power-packed from the beginning, when the participants all answer the question “If your vagina could talk, what would it say?” in resounding, orgasmic tones sure to make some laugh and others faint.
The monologues’ themes radiate from humor to tragedy. No emotion is left untouched in the process: everyone watching can identify with at least one person, one story, or one experience that the play discusses.
The actresses all are exemplary, delving into their roles so deeply that it is hard to believe the stories they recount are not really theirs.
Katie Clark, a classical studies/medieval studies junior, plays a shy, furniture-obsessed woman in “Because He Liked to Look,” with just the right amount of wonder and shyness.
Shana Doyle, a theatre studies sophomore, sent the audience into giggles with her powerful rendition of “My Angry Vagina,” mixing just the right amount of humor and frustration to get the point across.
The most believable performance came from Kristin Faucher, a communications/theatre sophomore, who plays a lawyer-turned-dominatrix who discovers the sheer power of the feminine moan.
English/Spanish education sophomore Jenny Solove backs her up in the monologue, acting out the various moans with enough adroitness to shame Meg Ryan into retirement.
The most controversial and empowering monologue was performed by Ariel Schumer in which she snaps a whip around the stage and takes back a word long used to demean women and turns it into a powerful and prideful word.
Tickets for the play are $8 for students from Loyola and Tulane and $10 for members of the community. Will call will be in the Architecture Building Lobby, and the Tulane box office is selling tickets. Tickets are on sale at the Architecture Building at 6:30 p.m; the play begins at 8 p.m. tonight.
