During our first read-thru of this play I have to admit I was a little shy about opening up all of these deeply intimate, aggressively boisterous and unashamedly honest portrayals of the feminine experience. I couldn't believe that we had agreed to do something so bold. So daring. And yet I knew that this play falls into alignment with everything New Amerikan Theatre stands for. So be it.
Tonight some random dude wandered in to our rehearsal, smiled at us, and looked like he was going to make himself at home...Then Kirsten said:
"We're talking about VAGINAS. You can stay only if you have a vagina or you want to talk about vaginas" (You'd think that would've stopped him, but no, he was a persistent little bugger. I guess men like to talk about them, too!)
Working on this show has a way of de-sensitizing you to the word VAGINA and getting you past any squeamishness in talking about Vaginas. It's got me talking about myvaginamysexmywomanhood- with my castmates. My friends. My Self. During rehearsal I've found that we can't talk enough about our vaginas. We have to blurt out the most intimate of details to each other: how old we were when we first got our periods, how our mothers reacted to our sexuality, the men we've had sex with, the kind of sex we've had, the kind of sex we like, don't like, good kissers/bad kissers, pap smears, speculums/stirrups, birth control, body image. And inevitably the conversation turns to the male counterpart of the vagina:
The penis. The ones we've known, want to know. What we like, what we don't like. Last night, just as we're ramping up and getting very vocal about a certain aspect of the penis that we really really like! we notice a man, waiting outside of our special little rehearsal room- waiting for us to leave so he can close up shop. He kept his head down as we filed out, blushing and giggling, trying to contain ourselves until we got outside and then whoooosh! A deep exhale of laughter! I am sure he got an earful. Maybe it will serve him in his own body-image, bolster his confidence. Perhaps it will help him in his relationships with women now that he's got an inside scoop on the female perspective.
******
"We're talking about VAGINAS. You can stay only if you have a vagina or you want to talk about vaginas" (You'd think that would've stopped him, but no, he was a persistent little bugger. I guess men like to talk about them, too!)
Working on this show has a way of de-sensitizing you to the word VAGINA and getting you past any squeamishness in talking about Vaginas. It's got me talking about myvaginamysexmywomanhood- with my castmates. My friends. My Self. During rehearsal I've found that we can't talk enough about our vaginas. We have to blurt out the most intimate of details to each other: how old we were when we first got our periods, how our mothers reacted to our sexuality, the men we've had sex with, the kind of sex we've had, the kind of sex we like, don't like, good kissers/bad kissers, pap smears, speculums/stirrups, birth control, body image. And inevitably the conversation turns to the male counterpart of the vagina:
The penis. The ones we've known, want to know. What we like, what we don't like. Last night, just as we're ramping up and getting very vocal about a certain aspect of the penis that we really really like! we notice a man, waiting outside of our special little rehearsal room- waiting for us to leave so he can close up shop. He kept his head down as we filed out, blushing and giggling, trying to contain ourselves until we got outside and then whoooosh! A deep exhale of laughter! I am sure he got an earful. Maybe it will serve him in his own body-image, bolster his confidence. Perhaps it will help him in his relationships with women now that he's got an inside scoop on the female perspective.
******
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