This past weekend, the KnightSpot hosted the annual Womyn's Action Coalition production of the award-winning Eve Ensler play, "The Vagina Monologues."
"The Vagina Monologues," a compilation of personal stories told by a variety of females ranging in age, race, nationality and generation, presents women's issues such as sexuality, relationships, self-esteem and rape.
As usual, each of the show's three performances opened to nearly full houses, attesting to the continued popularity of the production among the Geneseo community.
"Aside from Relay for Life, ['The Vagina Monologues' production] is one of the most successful fundraisers at Geneseo," said junior Lindsey Wiltse, president of WAC.
The most remarkable thing about the show is that, despite the fact that over the years students have become familiar with the content, they continue to return annually in great numbers to see it put on.
In fact, the annual "Vagina Monologues" production has a long history of financial success for WAC.
The tradition of putting it on stretches back farther than many of its current members can even recall. Freshman WAC member Liz Shenn could only approximate that the group has been doing the show for "at least four or five years."
Even Wiltse could only respond, "Quite some time … I don't even know."
Shenn commented on why she believes "The Vagina Monologues" has continued to resonate so well with students: "Let's face it - people love to hear about vaginas. There's just something so scandalous about vaginas. [The show is] really truthful …"
This year's production was notably well-staged and acted, with humorous sketches balancing out the darker and more serious stories to create a well-rounded vision of the female experience.
Shenn said that she and the other actors had "only a month or so" since returning from winter break to put the show together.
WAC managed to accomplish a lot in the short span of rehearsal time. The theme of presenting the show this year was "Vagina Airways," and WAC performers invited the audience "aboard" to share in the "journey" into the history of women that is "The Vagina Monologues."
The show featured many of its standard sketches. There was a surprise at the close of the evening, however, with a new piece that "… highlight[ed] the atrocities being committed against women and girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo," according to the show's program.
The intense presentation of the horrific realities facing females overseas provided a jarring but educational finish to the evening's entertainment. In combination with the description of the situation on the back of the program, the addition to the show augmented the audience's understanding of the cause to which WAC plans to donate the money from this year's ticket sales.
Wiltse predicted that the group would be able to give at least a $2,500 donation toward the ongoing rape crisis in the DRC as a result of this year's excellent ticket sales.
Overall, this year's WAC production of "The Vagina Monologues" proved a success as usual, showing the importance of the show to the Geneseo experience and the dedication of students to women's rights and gender issues.