In celebration of V-Day Taipei, an all-new Chinese-language production of The Vagina Monologues (陰道獨白) is showing tonight and tomorrow at Guoguang Hall (國光廳) in the Chinese Petroleum Building (中油大樓).
“Every girl should see this show to better understand her own sexuality,” said Ho Bih-jen 何碧珍), secretary general of the National Alliance of Taiwan Women’s Associations. “Men should see it too because [they] will spend a lot of time with the vagina.”
Directed by theater veteran Ann Lang (郎祖筠), this year’s production largely eschews professional actresses in favor of a more diverse range of performers including singer Lai Pei-hsia (賴佩霞); actress Tan Ai-chen (譚艾珍); DJ Ruby Lu (盧春如); Xiaotong (小彤), who writes about gender issues; and Wu Yi-hui (吳宜蕙), an advocate for people with disabilities. The play’s score was composed by Mando-pop songwriter and producer Kay Huang (黃韻玲).
Lang said her biggest challenge as director was helping castmembers overcome their shyness.
“These ladies may not be as expressive as professional actresses with their body language, but their emotions are direct and real,” she said. “My duty was to help them find their characters and let them shine.”
The Vagina Monologues, an Obie-winning theater sensation written by American playwright Eve Ensler, condenses around 200 real interviews with women into 17 monologues on topics that include masturbation, rape, orgasm and birth. Since its debut in 1996, the thought-provoking and riotously funny play has grown into an international social phenomenon spurred along by local interpretations in numerous countries, including nations in the Muslim world.
A new monologue, titled Spotlight, is written by Ensler every year to highlight an issue affecting women around the world. This year’s Spotlight focuses on women massacred in war-torn Congo.
The V-Day movement was founded by Ensler and others in 1998 to stop violence against women.
“A girl can bring her boyfriend to this show and decide whether she can marry him based on his reaction,” said Lang.
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