Jackie Loomis, senior theatre major, and Dasha Taraban, freshman advertising major, act as part of the Vulva Choir in “The Vagina Monologues.” HEATHER STAWICKI | DAILY KENT STATER

Credit: Jason Hall

Women talked about what their vaginas would wear and say, discussed menstration and addressed violence against women during “The Vagina Monologues.”

The play, which was performed this weekend in the Kiva, was sponsored by Phi Gamma Pi sorority, the Queer Liberation Front and the Women’s Resource Center. Proceeds went to Safer Futures, a shelter for abused women.

The play uses images of burn and mutilation victims to help get its point across.

“It’s a play that takes the point of being blunt and in your face,” said junior theater major Joel Abramson. “At the same time, it has class and humor in it.”

Abramson said the subject matter makes the radical nature of the play necessary.

Eve Ensler wrote “The Vagina Monologues” after interviewing 200 women about their vaginas.

The play is mostly serious, but the audience’s laughter filled the Kiva when an actress demonstrated different kinds of moans women make during sex.

“The moaning scene at the end was my favorite part,” said senior theater major Kristin Benner.

Senior theater major Rebecca Harris produced this year’s performance. She saw the play in 2003 and has been involved with helping coordinate it in the past.

Students are not permitted to change the skits or the order in which they are performed, Harris said. But every year, Ensler writes several new skits that can be interchanged. That way, Harris said, the play stays fresh and is not performed the same way each year.

This year, interpreters translated the play into sign language for the hearing impaired.

“It’s powerful and tells a lot of truth,” Abramson said. “It’s definitely a piece everyone should see.”

Contact honors and international affairs reporter Ted Hamilton at [email protected].