On Stage Te Kūiti’s latest “challenging” theatre piece will “make a difference.” Here, actress Riley Coogan Beckett recites the piece My Short Skirt, one of the pieces that form the overall work. Photo supplied
The C word may be heard on the Te Kūiti stage, in the Vagina Monologues: “one of the most dramatic pieces of theatre women can do,” in director Allan Marsden’s words.
Written by New York playwright Eve Ensler in 1996, it was internationally popular work that had been translated into 45 languages, he said.
It was not “light and fluffy” community theatre “where you have a glass of wine and a giggle.”
“You go ‘wow, what happened then?’ And ‘I can relate to that … that happened to me.’ That’s why it is different.”
One piece was about reclaiming the C word.
The last time Allan directed the show, he said, that monologue especially appealed to one actress.
“Why? because she’d been called that all her life by her husband. And she grabbed at it. She said, ‘I am doing this piece. This is mine.’
Producer Carol Eales had one question when Allan, at a committee meeting, first suggested doing the Vagina Monologues.
“Is it too brazen for a small town?”
But On Stage went ahead. They wanted something to attract enthusiastic crowds, “interest a different range of people” and continue the culture of having live performances in the King Country.
Committee member Sally Stuart explained that, for her, the piece’s appeal was around speaking the unspoken.
“[The vagina] isn’t an open subject. It’s as though it must be discussed behind closed doors or with your doctor,” Sally said.
The sometimes “confronting and emotional” monologues discussed abuse, rape, leakages, and names for the vagina.
“On the other side it takes a humorous look at women’s physiology, and in particular the vagina.”
It had originally been based on research with groups of women.
“Hundreds of interviews, taken over a few years [with] women from all walks of life, ethnicities, races, creeds, religions and it’s a culmination of all their views,” Sally said.
Allan said he had directed the play three times, each “a massive sellout.”
“As a director, I actually don’t direct it. I just guide them into how they want to … portray what they’re saying.”
Funds raised by playwright Ensler went straight to a programme to help women and girls affected by domestic violence (such as the fee On Stage Te Kūiti paid to do the show).
“We have an obligation to make a difference in this society and challenge [things].”
Given the feminist goals, why was a man directing the show instead of a woman? Allan said he was an experienced director who would not influence the structure or content.
He said the material was “not my place” in a sense, but that he had grown up with “three sisters who made sure he was up on the game around issues affecting women and girls.
Six to eight local women were needed to perform.
They could choose their own monologue from a range written by Ensler. There were many reasons women might want to do so.
“It’s their time. This is an opportunity for women to read material that might be really relevant to them,” Allan said.
Two auditions will be held: 7pm on Tuesday, May 16, and at 4pm, Sunday, May 21, at the On Stage theatre on King St. Women without previous acting experience are welcome.
The live performance would involve reading a monologue as written by the playwright with no requirement to tell a personal story.
