{"id":3571,"date":"2014-02-17T02:42:22","date_gmt":"2014-02-17T02:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.africlub.net\/awdf\/?p=3571"},"modified":"2015-08-18T11:15:18","modified_gmt":"2015-08-18T11:15:18","slug":"the-vagina-monologues-a-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awdf.org\/OldSite\/the-vagina-monologues-a-review\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vagina Monologues \u2013 A Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20140217203640\/http:\/\/www.africlub.net\/awdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/photo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3669\" src=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20140217203640im_\/http:\/\/www.africlub.net\/awdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/photo.jpg\" alt=\"photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"350\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<span lang=\"en\">The audience erupted with laughter at the unusual sight of five women moaning and gyrating, uninhibited, on stage. \u201cCoochie!\u201d \u201cPussy!\u201d \u201cTwat\u2026\u201d These and other similar slang words bounced off of the grand walls of the National Theatre of Ghana. People of various backgrounds filled the seats, some ready and some not quite ready, to experience an unconventional play on Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"en\">The Vagina Monologues is a play written by New York native, feminist, activist and performer, Eve Ensler. Since its premier in Ensler\u2019s home city in 1996, women from different countries all over the world have performed their own adaptations. The five young women in this Ghanaian performance did an extraordinary job presenting the diverse selection of monologues dealing with the feminine experience. Each monologue tackles a specific issue such as love, sex, rape, menstruation, orgasm, birth, genital mutilation, female-male relations, and pretty much anything involving the vagina. The central theme of the piece is the importance of a woman\u2019s vagina as a symbol of empowerment and individuality. Some women are shy about theirs, some are not shy at all, some have had wonderful sexual encounters, while still others have experienced grave trauma. All different types of women are represented in the script, and it attempts to address a vast array of controversial situations whether serious or funny. The cast chemistry was on point and each actress was fully committed to her role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"en\">Some phrases and settings in the production had been changed to be more unique to the experiences of Ghanaian women. The actresses discussed Azonto music, the curvaceous body type, and interracial relationships, along with many other references. There was even a highlife musical act, performed by a man proclaiming his love and respect for women. Certainly, that aspect of the play could only have been found in a Ghanaian interpretation of the original. It added a very genuine dimension to the performance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"en\">One of the scenes that really stood out was the one titled \u201cBecause He Liked to Look at It,\u201d about how a woman comes to love and accept her vagina after a man had shown his intense appreciation for hers. He spends hours looking at it because of his belief that the vagina reveals a woman\u2019s true beauty and essence. The sight of it was his main source of arousal. The young actress in the scene, Pearl Darkey, was a showstopper throughout the entire play, portraying a woman who was confident, sexy, powerful and self-loving. During the finale of the play Darkey even dropped into a split, as they took turns acting out the many ways that women express an orgasm. This triggered an uproarious round of applause and whooping from the crowd.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"en\">On a completely different note, the scene in which two actresses portrayed rape victims was extremely troubling. One of the actresses wore a white nightgown stained with blood, and the other had a head of unkempt hair and disheveled clothes. Their performances were heart wrenching, and brought attention to the realities of our world. Millions of women suffer everyday from abuse by their husbands, boyfriends, fathers, uncles, friends, and the list goes on. This scene was uncomfortable but necessary, so that people do not forget that we have to continue to promote and fight for the equal and just treatment of women. All in all, there was a good balance between fun and severe topics, culminating into one cohesive and fantastic show.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"en\">A Valentine\u2019s Day evening at the theatre, watching The Vagina Monologues, was a perfect way to reflect on the importance of love for one another, and what a beautiful thing it is to be a woman.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"en\">By: Emily Barnard, AWDF Communications Intern<\/span>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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