Tuesday, March 04, 2008 Oro's Vagina Monologues now on its 8th year By Mark D. Francisco
FOR almost a decade now, Eve Ensler's provocative play The Vagina Monologues has been a familiar annual event in Cagayan de Oro to raise funds and at the same time promote awareness in fighting violence against women.
This year, there will be an added twist - there will be a woman on the side of the stage who will translate The Vagina Monologues on March 8 and March 28 into sign language.
In an email interview, The Vagina Monologues organizer Denise Aguilar (who is part of the all-women ensemble when Ensler's famous medium first hit the shores of Cagayan de Oro in 2000) vows this year's celebration will be grander.
Aguilar assures there will be new monologues inserted in the play.
"This year, aside from having monologues in Binisaya, all of the monologues will be sign-interpreted. So that not only the hearing public can watch, but the hearing impaired as well...Just watch the show and see for yourself, I promise you, it is a different production with fresh ideas, new blocking, new director, new faces," Aguilar says.
Even the original script is altered by Eve herself. Every year, there is a spotlight monologue that is fit for the time and current situations of women in a given place. This year, it is entitled "Welcome to the Wetlands" for the women of New Orleans (who are still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Katrina in 2005).
"Spotlight monologues of the past may or may not be included," she pointed out.
Aside from The Vagina Monologues, Aguilar also held what she called as a Vagina Cake, Cookie and Chocolate Exhibit on February 16.
That was an exhibit among chefs in the city who could showcase cakes, cookies, chocolates and other pastries molded into shapes representing women and their causes.
Throughout the month of March, there will also be an all-women basketball exhibition game, fora on gender equality in various academic institutions here and an essay writing contest on women's issues.
One of the perceived highlights of The Vagina Monologues is the moaning segment, especially the so-called machine-gun moan.
"Yeah, it was fun doing the moaning part, but we never realized people think it to be the climax of the show," Aguilar quips.
Part of the proceeds of The Vagina Monologues and its supplemental activities go to Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
