Interview with the Cast of Vagina Monologues

Interview with the Cast of Vagina Monologues

Eve Ensler’s award-winning play, The Vagina Monologues will be performed in English three times this March. “Los Auxiliares” will perform it on Sunday, March 11th at 20:30 at La Tabacalera in the space El Molina Rojo (Calle Embajadores 53, metro: Embajadores)and Tuesday, March 20th and Wednesday March 21st at 20:00 at Triskel Tavern (San Vicente Ferrer, 3 metro: Tribunal). There is a suggested donation of €5 and tickets can be purchased at the door starting at 20:00 on the day of the show or reserved by calling 722 785 790. Although the play will be put on in English, they will also hand out the script in Spanish. Also, the final monologue will be performed in English and in Spanish. These performances are raising money for the VDay Campaign to end violence against women.

Last year, Cheap In Madrid wrote about the performance put on in Spanish here. This year we’re talking to the cast: director Ashley Contreras, Flor Madel, Hannah Connor, Hannah Cowdry, Elena Zitro, Jessica Robinson, Jamie Gajewski, and Julia Logan. Cast members Vanessa Martinez, Victoria Fioravante, Cassondra Combs, and Maggie Peyton couldn’t make it to the interview, but will be there for the show.

CiM: Ashley, how did you meet the Auxiliares acting group?
Ashley: I wanted to participate in the Vagina Monologues in Madrid so I looked online but I didn’t see one. We have a Facebook page for people in the “Auxiliares de Conversación” program with something like 1,400 people so I thought “Why not put the idea up there?”

CiM: Why did you want to do a production of Vagina Monologues?
Ashley: I saw it in 2009 and I could barely get out of my seat afterwards. I was blown away. Next year I participated in it in my university.

CiM: Have any of you participated in it in your universities?
Flor: I did it 3 times in my school. I took my grandma to see it in Mexico and she loved it. I thought it was awesome that even my grandmother enjoyed it.
Julia: I participated in it 2008 at my university. When Ashley posted it on the Facebook page I didn’t know her. In college I was involved in 20,000 activities. So here I felt something was lacking for me. Now I get to bring some of that “active Julia” back into my life.
Hannah Connor (HC): I’ve been in it 3 times before. For me, Vagina Monologues is so amazing because it opens up conversations about never-discussed issues like sexual violence. Sometimes we talk about violence such as genocide or war but rarely do we ever know what sexual violence has happened to our peers and friends. If I bring it up that I’m in the Vagina Monologues, people launch into huge hours-long discussions. Everyone has an opinion about these issues and about the Monologues that there’s no other is no other forum to discuss in our society. The show is definitely in-your-face and provocative

CiM: Did any of you study acting?
Flor: I majored in theatre.
Ashley: None of the rest of us did. But there’s no discrimination in terms of the cast except that men can’t be in it. As many people as want to be involved, should be involved. If anyone auditions, they’ll get a part. Really what we’re doing is telling other women’s stories. It’s not about having acting experience. It’s just about finding a connection with the text.

CiM: Are any of you nervous about performing this?
Ashley: I think it’s normal to be nervous. But we just try to remember the big picture.
HC: It’s exciting. It’s written from real interviews with women. It’s perfect for people who don’t have any acting experience.
Ashley: It hasn’t been a traditional theatre production. But that’s nice because since we’re out of our environment we get to do it our way.

CiM: So then your acting group, “Los Auxiliaries,” formed around this? When was that?
Ashley: Yes, in December. Hopefully we’ll continue beyond the play. We’ve already talked about having weekly sessions. It’s almost like a therapy forum. I feel like I can tell these girls anything. It creates a really comfortable atmosphere.
HC: It’s like that also with the audience. It creates a bond. People are more open afterwards. That’s why we’re thinking about having a discussion forum after some of the shows. It loosens people and reminds them that these are issues facing all women, and really all of humanity.
Ashley: I remember after a performance I did, a girl came up to and hugged me and was crying and saying “Thank you, thank you!” I was speechless. It does something to people.

CiM: Tell us about the VDay Campaign.
Ashley: VDay is the umbrella organization that the Vagina Monologues falls under, but it was started with the Vagina Monologues. And now there are several other plays that are part of VDay. There’s also one for men. There’s a season for the Vagina Monologues. They have to be performed between February 1st and April 30th.
HC: These performances are fundraisers. There’s a €5 suggested donation, and 90% of the money raised goes to Women’s Link Worldwide which focuses on defending women’s human rights all over the world, from a legal point of view.
Julia: Here in Spain, they’re focusing on immigrant women in Almeria, because the fact that they don’t have their papers in order is one more way abusers can take advantage of them, for example with sex trafficking.
Ashley: The other 10% of the money goes directly to VDay.
HC: VDay sends that money to an international place. This year it’s Haiti.
Ashley: VDay asks that where we donate the money locally be a local nonprofit women’s organization. It’s nice because by donating locally, we also get to give back to Madrid.
HC: Women’s Link Worldwide’s headquarters is in Madrid
Julia: Someone from Women’s Link Worldwide may come to give a 5 minute speech before the shows and bring some of their materials, too.

CiM: How is the Vagina Monologues changed in other countries?
HC: Worldwide it’s the exact same script, so there’s really a unity with that. But every year they add one new monologue.
Flor: Then there are some monologues that don’t get included each year. So there’s a core group of monologues, and 2 or 3 that rotate, and then the final one is the Spotlight Monologue.
HC: The Spotlight Monologue focuses on one area in the world where VDay is focused on that year. This year the Spotlight Monologue is called “For my Sisters in Port-Au-Prince, Bukavu and New Orleans” for the victims of natural disasters.
Jessica: A lot of abuse happens under those circumstances. VDay Spotlight is focusing particularly on the women and girls of Haiti this year.

CiM: What makes the Vagina Monologues different?
Ashley: It has the highest highs and the lowest lows. There are funny bits and serious ones that hit home. There’s something for everybody.
Jamie: I’m doing the “My Angry Vagina” monologue. It’s high energy. There are some very powerful monologues, but the audience needs a break and something they can laugh about.
Julia: Two years ago I studied abroad here and the other day I had lunch with my study abroad family. Since monólogos has this connotation of standup comedy in Spanish, when my study abroad family asked me what monologue I was doing I explained “My Vagina Was My Village” about Bosnian women refugees interviewed during the war in Yugoslavia. And they said to me “We thought they were funny!” I had to explain that, yes, there are funny monologues but horrible things happen to vaginas too. There’s a range and Vagina Monologues shows all the facets
HC: It deals with violence and sexuality.
Flor: But not just violence and sexuality. It’s also about life. We all come from a vagina.
HC: It’s important for guys to see. Some are scared or freaked out. But guys need to be part of this conversation.
Elena: Vagina Monologues isn’t preaching a right way. It’s more controversial. It shows a range of paths of how we get to be comfortable with ourselves.

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