Vagina Monologues try something new

After months of delay, the University of New Hampshire’s performances of the Vagina Monologues will be performed this Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.

The Vagina Monologues, created by American playwright Eve Ensler, is a compilation of true stories told by women across the world. The monologues cover topics from cancer to childbirth, to sexual experiences and abuse, and are meant to raise awareness to stop violence against women.

Typically a simple show of women reading monologues on stage, this year’s rendition, put on by SHARPP, will resemble an actual play with characters eating at a dinner table.

“We’ve never seen it done this way before,” Sarah Miranda, senior theater major and the director of this year’s staging, said.  “It’s traditionally a simple show.  It’s definitely a different take on it.”

The idea of a dinner party was inspired by an actual dinner social that Miranda had with her friends. Having each individual monologue woven into conversations would make it all seem more real, she said.

“I didn’t want them to be separate. I wanted it to be strong women telling their stories to each other,” Miranda said.  “Everyone can relate to talking at a dinner party.”

Miranda took the role as director after she made the production her senior capstone project. She believes that the messages the monologues intend to deliver are not well understood across the world. In her opinion, showing the audience an onstage performance of women’s stories and struggles is the best way to educate society.

“We want to inform people about these issues creatively,” Miranda said.

Freshman Ariel Moniz, one of the actresses of this year’s Vagina Monologues a and member of SHARPP, joined the production for this very reason. Influenced by her older sister who was also in a staging of the Monologues, Moniz signed up as soon as she found out that UNH was putting on its own production.

“They are very important to me,” Moniz said.  “They have so much to say about these issues that people aren’t aware of.  It takes them into a different world.”

Moniz’s character in the show represents all the women in Bosnia who were sexually abused. The character speaks out for “women who don’t have a voice,” she said.

The Vagina Monologues will be shown in the Granite State Room and is open to the public. Admission is $8 per person.