Last night I took a Beautiful Lady out for her first attendance of the Vagina Monologues at the Pico Playhouse. I have to say, I was really disappointed.
Full disclosure: I had seen the play at my small performing and liberal arts school, then decided to audition. My last performance was "The Woman who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy"-- corporate lawyer turned sex worker who loved to hear women moan, then demonstrates all the different moans to the delight of the audience. So I'm totally biased because I had such an incredibly wonderful experience working with all those women, many of whom were already my friends, but all of whom were sex-positive, feminist and who clearly loved their vaginas. That being said, I really didn't feel like these women, who were professionals and classically trained actresses, could hold a candle to the production put on entirely by undergraduates.
I DIDN'T FREAKIN FEEL THE LOVE!!! I felt like the performance was rushed, both in the manner of speaking the dialogues and how each monologue ended with lighting. We should not be viewing the back of an actress as she walks back to her mark, then darkness. But to start at the beginning, there was a pointless clip from comedy.com that I think was promoting a new show, but I can't be sure. Furthermore, I do not think this is allowed as performances of The Vagina Monologues do not allow men on stage during the performance--whether this extends to taped performances or not I will not know until I get a response from my inquiry to V-Day, the organization created to raise funds and awareness regarding violence against women.
Every year the script changes, mostly because a new monologue is written regarding a current issue such as comfort women, transwomen, or this year: the woman in the Congo. Since I was not privy to this year's script, I do not know how much the core monologues have changed, but I do know that there were several changes and omissions to those monologues. At first I thought it was the mistake of the actress, again because of rushed reading, but when it happened again I wondered if it was actually on purpose due to the nature of the edit that made it more "socially acceptable"? Making changes to the script is definitely not allowed.
Finally, audience interaction. I want you as the performer to reach out, twist me around, and play with my heart. I want you to make me feel. Instead, I found myself glancing at my friend's iPhone wondering what we would do after this shit show was over. Maybe that's harsh. Maybe that's not female positive, but damn. I can now understand why people don't want to see this show. This sucked. It's supposed to be conversational, you're supposed to interact with the audience--make us scream CUNT! Make us get moist during the 20 different moans! Make us cry when reading about rape victims of wars. There were so many subtle nuances of humor and poignancy that were totally lost--again much to the fault of speed reading.
So when this show was over, K. and I scope out the rest of our night. I mention a strip club around the corner, she says she hasn't been to a strip club in awhile. I ask her if she wants to go to Jumbo's. Her eyes light up and her face breaks into the widest smile, so I whisk her away to the iconic strip club.
Here, well, here I felt the love. I not only felt it from K.'s face at her delight of being in presence of scantily clad women, but the strippers themselves were talented, dedicated and putting their all into the show. Granted they are putting their effort for immediate monetary compensation, but I was so into them. We were inspired to take pole dancing lessons and practice on the pole in her apartment. We particularly favored two Beautiful Ladies. One dark haired beauty admired for her feistiness, dancing to Blue Monday, kicking the edge of the stage--our favorite was her move of standing precariously on the lighted tip rail in her black stilettos, then looking at the pole with a shrug and defiance, and catapulting herself on to the pole.
However, we both fell in love with a tall, Blonde thing, elegant and edged with tattoos, including a beautiful back piece of a peacock. She delicately and firmly placed her black stilettos on the mirrored ceiling, carefully wrapped her body around the pole with such artistry--at one point she only used her arms hold herself away from the pole, her body parallel and vertical--damn! I found her criss-crossed black garters wonderfully sexy.
I don't know much about these women, but I'd wager to say at least some have some training in dance and gymnastics.
My point about all this is that the women who boasted years of theater experience and fancy degrees from Oxford, they didn't put as much love and effort into their performance as the strippers at Jumbo's.
I put the full heart into my play.