The Vagina Monologues

Evan Nossoff’s Vagina is a hit, and the producer and director of the Sacramento production of The Vagina Monologues wants to keep it that way. Nossoff and his theater company, SacActors.com, are already expecting to extend the Vagina run past its current end date of December 19. There are four performances of Vagina each weekend at the Geery Theatre, with two rotating casts, and the tickets are being snatched up quickly. The majority of the audiences have been women (95 percent by Nossoff’s estimation, though he encourages males to attend). Many are attending in groups as part of a six-ticket discount. Other groups are buying out the entire house, as with a whole audience of Kaiser Permanente ob-gyns.

So, what makes The Vagina Monologues so appealing? Basically, it takes a taboo subject matter—a basic body part of every woman—and makes it acceptable to talk about. Playwright Eve Ensler interviewed numerous women about “the ultimate forbidden zone” and turned the interviews into a one-woman show that won both an Obie award and loyal audiences everywhere.

For this production, three talented actresses trade off monologues in front of deep-red velvet panels. The three start off facing the still-fidgeting audience and simply state, “I bet you’re worried.” The tension broken with relieved laughter, the individual monologues begin, with each actress portraying different women that Ensler interviewed.

You can feel the bond that takes place between the actresses and the audience. After just five minutes, it seems quite ludicrous that society is so scared of the V word. Not only the word, but the body part itself, and all the shame, power, fear and beauty that vagina owners carry with them. The play is funny, sad, angry, empowering and, most of all, great fodder for after-show conversations.