The Vagina Monologues

No two shows of the Vagina Monologues are the same, and its definitely worth watching several times preferably in different cities.

I saw only the Indian version in English of the Vagina Monologues.  This was created by Mahabano Modi Kotwal a prominent theater artist and producer in Mumbai, who saw the original show in the US and got in touch with them to produce an Indian version.

As everyone might be familiar this is a series of dialogues/ recitations collected across ‘00s of interviews with women including refugees, sex workers, war victims and home makers, working women across the globe. In India too I guess they did a few interviews and included episodes in Marathi/ Hindi-English.

I see this in Mumbai at the Phoenix High street mall, lower parel - which then was the only theater where you were served liquor and could take it to your seat.  It was mainly for English theater and Comedy standup scene.  So this was as much of a revelation to me as the show was.  Also its free seating so if you are going in a group or otherwise, its better to go earlier and grab some good seats.  

My colleague - the regular who I pummeled into joining me for theatre joins me for this.  She is in the least  uncomfortable when I ask her if she would like to see the play.   My colleague had done quite a bit of social work and research for family planning, reproductive health as well as social surveys among sex workers so wasnt queasy about the topic.

We manage to grab second row seats on the side, and witness a gruesome quarrel where two gentlemen who had come and taken the seats in front of us were physically & loudly asked by a young girl to vacate her seats.  I think we’d noticed she was sitting there and thats why we didnt sit there, but apparently she just casually left walking around to grab a drink or look for her +1.   For the next few minutes my colleague is loudly discussing why that girl’s behavior was unacceptable, making doubly sure she can hear it as she’s within a couple of feet from us. But luckily this bounces off that girl’s thick hide, and the show begins.

Its a tiny stage, barely a strip about a few feet wide with a dark curtain - so we actually assume its the front of the stage and the curtain should be opening any moment soon. Instead four actors walk out and take the stools on which were placed pages of their dialogue.  Each of them pick up their notes as they perch themselves on those high stools.

Mahabano takes centrestage and introduces her production ‘Poor Man’ if I remember right and then asks everyone in general if anyone is uncomfortable saying the word ‘Vagina’ loudly and I think there’s someone placed in the front row (some white folk attending the show) and this bloke raises his hand, and perhaps there were a few others

She then asks the rest of the audience to check if they are comfortable and if they can loudly utter ‘Vagina’ and we do - she asks us to repeat this even more loudly - three times, and then turns to the bloke saying ‘that wasnt hard was it’.

I think I had seen Mahabano’s plays earlier mostly harmless comedies or sex farces, and the one which I remember is a harmless rather laughable version of ‘Steel Magnolias’.  She’s got personality and pizzazz in that short frame of hers and it is in full flavor in this show.

Usually she and another prominent Theater actor Dolly Thakore are the constants, with the other actors usually joining when they are available, and since there’s a lot of flexibility on the material they take turns in which stories can be performed by who.

After the introduction (switch off your mobiles, or we just walk back into the curtain and you wont get a refund - we’re called the poor man’s production for a reason etc. etc.) - the show begins, and I think they just start taking turns reading out real short one line episodes on their experiences, and its well co-ordinated as they flit through their lines fast and furious. And as each line is recited the actor drops the page of that dialogue to move on to the next one. They dont need it and its well rehearsed.

The actor in the corner is a marathi-hindi theater personality whose name escapes me but she comes in a lot of TV commercials as the duty-bound mother who’s concerned about her child’s health or exams or whatever (and presto the brand which offers the solution).  Here she’s wearing an outrageous Bouffant on her head and long tight flares with a sleeveless blouse, and as she’d  walked in she looked into our side of the theater done a few coquettish grins and even winked at us “this is going to be some show, boys. You’re gonna have the time of your life!” - a far far cry from her usual stern appearance as the concerned mother.

Dolly Thakore and Mahabano are in top form, and they do most of the global episodes in English where the accents match the various locales of the US.  In the mid section they recite a few episodes of survivors of the Bosnian wars, and you can see it moves each of them deeply with tears and both of them complete the other sentences. Its as perfect a synchronicity as can be achieved.  

The other two performers are also great and talk about sexual liberation for the modern woman and do pitch perfect renditions of both local women as well as the educated working women in India.

The show is over before we know it - a little less than an hour and the girls stand up to take a bow and return to the curtains, when one of the women from the audience reaches out to one of the actors.  A beefy security guy (or one of the hangers on) wants to intervene and restrain her, but I think the actors allow her through and she hugs all of them saying it was cathartic for her.  We move on.

About a year or more later I bump into Dolly Thakore at a special show of a theater play (OK a blogpost on this soon) - and Dolly is in the same lift as me, and while I am usually gawky and uncomfortable in the presence of a celebrity here I just cant help chatting up with her and she doesnt mind.

I tell her I absolutely loved the Vagina Monologues and I think she’s heard this a billion times already and politely nods and then ask her how her show in Lucknow was.  

I had been quite surprised to learn that Dolly Thakore was originally from Lucknow (where I studied for a couple of years) as it is as far removed from her personality as can be.  Lucknow is Hindi heartland and a more conservative traditional mindset prevails.  Apparently when she was being felicitated there she mentioned that she couldnt imagine doing a show about the Vagina Monologues in Lucknow given how conservative as well as how notoriously violent / lawless that area was. 

Apparently the then Chief Minister (or his son) Akhilesh Yadav was in the audience and asked her to do a show there and he’d support her.  They managed to successfully do the show (in Hindi of course!!) and this was in trepidation as they revealed that some outraged citizen or group would burn down the venue or vandalize it any moment. When the curtain call came and there was a rousing rapturous applause they breathed relief. Apparently Akhilesh was in the audience and that saved the day.  But I dont think this was a regular show in Lucknow and more a one-time thing.

Dolly laughs and looks at me and tells me it was one of the best shows she’d done and people there absolutely loved it and spoke to her long about this after the show.

I smile and tell her “that took balls”

She nods and tells me “Yes, some real balls”