Ms Da solitary paradise
Friday, October 10, 2008

「 Ms Da Yakking Away At 11:46 pm 」
0 freaking screams!



Not knowing what to expect, I went ahead to the play with a group of female colleagues anyway. With a stellar cast of 9 women, The Vagina Monologues (TVM) is a collection of anecdotes celebrating all things feminine - from a woman's own spiels on her own hair “down there” to a clinical “vagina workshop” which is re-imagined as an army bootcamp led by a drill sergeant with a French accent and out of nowhere, someone actually does a sexy pole dance. Naughty, naughty!

Of course, this play isn't all about fun and laughter. From spousal violence to childhood sexual abuse, TVM also portrays the dark and afflict side of being a woman. But I personally find some moments rather disturbing and depressing.

Having said that, it is interesting to see that there is a conscious effort to localise the experience, with phrases in Tamil, Malay and Chinese dialects thrown around. There is also an attempt to draw the audience closer to the cast - with a bunch of “schoolgirls” descending on the audience waving their (unused) sanitary napkins and a tight and snappy lesson on how to pronounced “c**t”. There are of course many more witty and hilarious scenes, however there are 2 which stood out.

One would be that of a dignified old lady recounting her first sexual awakening. Too shy to even say the word “vagina”, she flashes a “V” sign instead. Now, I'm inclined to give the “V” sign a new and fresh definition. Another one would be that of a sex worker whose clientele are only women. The "butch" being quite attractive is definitely a plus point. However, it is the comedic depiction of the various ways of moaning that makes me laugh.


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