The Vagina Monologues

Eve Ensler?s ?The Vagina Monologues? has been designed to affront, galvanize and rally its audience ? a combination of descriptive words, loud chants and charming discourses culled from over two-hundred interviews, the play seems unstoppable. It?s been performed by Ensler, followed by theatrical celebrities, followed by community theatres? been broadcast on television and read in book form by countless fans? and is enjoying its second year as part of the Provincetown Fringe Festival, under the direction of local theatre devotee Marjorie Conn. For those with the title equipment, the ?Monologues? in this space as performed by ten women with varying experience is a cramped but irresistible experience.

Carol Drewes, Dian Hamilton, Diana Fabbri, Jackie Levinson, Joy Winslow, Karen Maloney, Linda deRussy, Maebush, Marj Conn, Patricia Toth, Tanya Leighton are the players here. They read from their scripts, sandwiched onto the Fringe?s tiny theatre in a semicircle, and they pass segments to each other like a well-practiced sports team. There are a few standout performances, and there are weak moments when the more inexperienced ladies are unable to bridge between the spoken word and visceral performance? but this group as a whole is an eclectic, determined, uninhibited lot who deliver Ensler?s verbal poetry with tremendous flair. You?ll know by the way they whip the audience into gales of laughter or when tales about mutilation or abuse draw the air from the room.

Some of the monologues are, to be sure, more poignant and well-written than others. And the sometimes endless stream of adjectives used to describe the vagina, what it would say, and what it would wear, eventually grow tiresome. It?s difficult to know whether the choice to divide these phrases and have one woman say two or three at a time is effective; occasionally the performers leave a word or phrase underserved on their way to the funnier or more spirited bits. But it certainly keeps the piece moving along.

The emergent quality of the piece is the community spirit brought by ten woman of different ages, backgrounds, careers and ethnicities. The ?Monologues? are more joyous as a result. These exuberant girls share, they wink ? they clearly have built friendships between themselves and are here to celebrate the work, and the sexual/social knowledge it seeks to impart. If there is a drawback, it is that Ensler?s narrative has been constructed for women; guys may voyeuristically enjoy the comedy and community, but this play belongs to girls, and will be most enjoyed by them. If you are one, and you haven?t seen ?The Vagina Monologues,? you will not be disappointed.