Imperial College's Vagina Monologues

Yikes, despite the title, I didn’t exactly realise that this was going to be exactly what it says on the tin. Eve Ensler’s all female and always controversial The Vagina Monologues saw an adaptation by DramSoc on three nights last week as part of SHAG Week events, and the taboo busting subject matter had me shifting uncomfortably in my seat.

Well, to begin with at least. While I might have remained a little stony faced in the beginning, fantastic performances from a more than able cast pulled me straight in and made me listen to what had to be said, raising downright belly laughs from me by the end.

The comfort and ease with which the cast treated their material (which some would call offensive) certainly jarred at the start, but once things invariably settled down and showed off a tremendous range of individual performances and stories, I could certainly appreciate the lasting appeal of the play, and the joy of the Dramsoc cast and crew in the creation of their own take on the production. The performance itself hinged around cast members taking to the stage and giving a monologue on a varied range of topics, written by Ensler (pictured) from amalgamations of personal interviews with around 200 women. The breadth and mixture of subject matter, ranging from light hearted yet detailed tales of birth, to truly grim stories of horrendous female abuse in Bosnia surprisingly worked despite the grand shifts in tone.

The performance was bolstered by an exceptional cast who really gave it their all, fully embodying the characters they were representing, from elderly women to loud and proud sex workers. By the end of the latter’s monologue, the audience was riotous with the sheer audacity of it all.

Whether I agreed with the overall message of each monologue on offer or not, each was performed admirably and allowed for some serious thought of the ramification behind the role of language, perception and awareness of gender. A sure fire hit, then.