The Courage to Connect

-
By Shannon Stockwell 

When I first got the email, I ignored it. Some of my fellow A.C.T. staff members were getting together to put on a production of The Vagina Monologues, by Eve Ensler, and they were inviting all women in the company to audition.

Audition? I hadn’t acted in years. What’s more, I had gone a long time without saying the word “vagina” in public—I was feeling myself becoming sort of prudish—and it made me blush just thinking about telling people that I was in the show. I rationalized to myself: It’s outdated. It was first performed in 1996. What relevance could the show possibly have anymore?

And then I auditioned.

Stockwell at a rehearsal for The Vagina Monologues. Photo by Rebecca Struch. 

I’m still not entirely sure why. Maybe I wanted to spend more time with the people I work with. Maybe I missed acting. Maybe something inside me wanted to be able to say “vagina” in public.  

And at the first read-through, all of my rationalizations about the show’s irrelevance were thrown out the window. This group of women—many of them my coworkers who had never acted before, some of them community members, and one a Young Conservatory alum—read aloud these monologues that are alternatively tragic, hilarious, and empowering, and I realized that, although the show was first performed 20 years ago, these monologues and the issues they explore are still shockingly pertinent to the struggles of modern-day women.

I was struck with sadness that, even after two decades of work against sexism and violence, women are still dealing with the same issues they were 20 years ago. But I was also grateful for this beautiful piece that continues to give women the courage to share and connect. After the read-through, the women in the cast discussed the play and we got wildly off-topic, talking about our bodies, our identities, and our own experiences of sexism. It was because of this play that we were given the chance to do that.

Many emotions course throughout the play, so rehearsals were intense. But this special group of women always supported each other, always held space for each other. Instead of suppressing the emotions that came up, we embraced them and let them show.

Now, we look forward to our performances, in which we will share these powerful, tragic, and funny monologues with an audience. Not only does our performance raise awareness about stopping violence against women, but also, all proceeds go to Oasis for Girls and W.O.M.A.N. Inc., two San Francisco–based organizations that strive to help women and girls succeed and thrive. Our performance is part of a global V-Day celebration, a day devoted to celebrating women and fighting violence against them.  I’m so proud to have been a part of this process.

And one more time, for the people in the back: VAGINA!


Performances will take place in The Rueff at A.C.T.'s Strand Theater, 1127 Market Street
February 12, 8 pm
February 13, 2:30 pm & 8 pm
Made possible with generous support from A.C.T.
Directed by Allie Moss

Buy tickets here!

Shannon Stockwell is the publications associate at A.C.T. and an actor in The Vagina Monologues.

Popular posts from this blog

“To Be or Not to Be”: The Iconic Speech’s Origins, Interpretations, and Impact

-
Image
By A.C.T. Publications Staff The opening line of Hamlet ’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is theater’s most iconic, most referenced quote. What’s less known is the famous speech’s history, with Hamlet ’s earliest publications offering varying versions of its language. Also questioned is its meaning—is Hamlet contemplating suicide or is he weighing the consequences of murder? Though definitive answers are unlikely to arise, the questions “To be or not to be” asks have kept audiences, scholars, and actors engaged for centuries. Hamlet ’ s "To be or not to be" speech as it appears in the three original editions of the play. Photo by Georgelazenby. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons. The first edition, or First Quarto (Q1), of Hamlet was published in 1603. Because the text is much shorter than later editions and its language is less poetic, it is nicknamed the “Bad Quarto” by scholars. “To be or not to be” in Q1 reads as: To be, or not to be—ay, there’s the point. To die, ...
Read more

The American Sound: The Evolution of Jazz

-
Image
By Cecilia Padilla There is nothing so uniquely American as jazz music. In its simplest form, jazz embodies the essence of the American people: bold and inventive. The improvisation of the jazz ensemble can even be seen as a metaphor for the American democratic ideal: musicians playing solos have the liberty to express themselves as long as they adhere to the overall structure of the tune—individual freedom but with responsibility to the group. The evolution of jazz music also carries with it the social development of our nation from slavery to the swinging songs of World War II. Musically, jazz contributed immensely to the way contemporary musicians approach instrumentation, composition, and vocal arrangements. It is difficult to find a popular tune today that does not derive from such jazz icons as Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk. Jazz is the great equalizer; for more than a hundred years, it has been the common ground between blacks and whites, me...
Read more

A Hell of a Businessman: A Biography of Joe Glaser

-
By Simon Hodgson Born in 1897, Joe Glaser was the son of a successful Russian Jewish physician in Chicago. He originally intended to follow a similar career and entered medical school, but after passing out in the operating room, he realized he wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. He started off in business selling used cars, but found better luck managing prizefighters. In his biography of Al Capone, Laurence Bergreen notes, “Glaser’s power to fix fights earned him a reputation as a sage of boxing, especially among reporters.” With advanced word as to which fights were fixed, Glaser could predict the results—and even the number of rounds—of many bouts in Chicago. His connections with organized crime continued in his next career change, when he began running nightclubs and whorehouses in the South Side for the Chicago Outfit, the powerful underworld gang led by Capone. Glaser’s tendency toward illegal action nearly ended his career. In 1928, he was sentenced to ten years in prison for ...
Read more