Monologues, Memories, Protests and Prayers: In the Name of Feminism
by Rebeca Hernández
V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. It was founded in 1998 by Eve Ensler, author, playwright and activist. Twenty years later it is celebrated all around the world bringing communities together to “Rise, Resist and Unite”.
This year Women’s March Barcelona made the V-Day performance a reality in Barcelona with a performance of “Un record, un monòleg, una protesta i una oració” (“A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer”), a collection of writings by distinguished authors and playwrights and edited by Eve Ensler and Mollie Doyle. The production was co-directed by Sev Koppe, Vanessa Aguilar and Rosie Baynham and co-organized by Women’s March Barcelona members, Lynne McIntyre, Rachel Mantiñan and Donna Banks. Proceeds from the two-night event were donated to two local organizations that work toward ending violence against women and girls. Tamaia Viure Sense Violència supports women who have suffered from abusive relationships and the other, Homes Igualitaris, is an association for men that strives to overcome the patriarchal society and instead towards equality in defense of women’s rights.
Thirty volunteers supported thirty actors who performed 10 monologues at La Bonne Centre Cultural de Dones Francesca Bonnemaison, the oldest cultural center in Europe dedicated to women.
The show was a trilingual production, performed in Catalan, Spanish and English, representative of one of the ways Barcelona is a diverse city. All of the monologues were simultaneously interpreted in Catalan sign language, providing for full inclusivity. Safe spaces with social workers were provided in the event the evening’s content triggered emotions that an audience member might have needed help dealing with. The performers’ backgrounds were varied, from all over the world, including Spain, a number with professional training and others taking the stage for the first time. They represented many voices and groups of women and men who contributed their own strengths and perspectives to the stories.
The show began with (Did You Happen To See) The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, a story on the power women seek in their beauty and how envy affects each of us. Next was First Kiss, the tale of a 6-year-old forced to have her first kiss with an adult man — two dancers represented the character’s innocence, allowing the audience to see her childish side weighed against the four adult voices delivering the story.
Massacre was the third monologue and the story of a woman’s desire to kill as a response to fear, as a way to prevent her daughter from growing up in a terrible and complicated world. The show continued with Blueberry Hill, a story of rape and how one woman fought with everything she had to survive and then shared all she learned from such a horrendous experience.
Conversations with My Son interrupted the heaviness of the previous pieces with an optimistic exchange between a single mother and her son. It showed the belief in a fair world, a world where equality exists between women and men. The series of conversations demonstrated that this fight must be shared by both genders in order to succeed. This belief was also expressed through the monologue that followed. Rescue was a tale of a man surrounded by female family members who had all been raped and how that led him to believe that being a man was shameful. Throughout the monologue the audience witnesses his development and his realization that this is not the only way to be a man in the world. And by the end of the piece he comes to terms with his newfound perception of men.
Another form of violence is displayed in The Perfect Marriage, an account about S&M that leads to a reflection on compromises, love and the will to be happy. Then came Maurice, a comic relief on friends talking about their teenage years and how horrible a first date may turn out; it’s funny because it’s relatable. The humor, however, comes to an abrupt stop as the characters realize how very easily every woman can say #MeToo.
For Connect: A Web of Words, a video-poem in English was displayed on a large screen as four women took turns voicing a series of words in Catalan; a compilation of words that are all too often seen in newspaper headlines. The words are part of so many women’s stories, words that many times remain a secret or are only whispered. This piece also touches on solutions to the problems as it ends on a more positive note with the words, “strength,” “dignity,” “transformation,” “together,” and “yes.”
Eve Ensler’s own words brought closure to the night: My Revolution Begins in the Body. It is a monologue that is in a sense a call for action as well as a reminder of the power that lives within each of us. The first night of the production, V-Day Barcelona brought a surprise guest to the stage to lead the piece, Barcelona’s Mayor Ada Colau, along with two other interpreters. On night two, the piece was led by Laura Pérez Castaño, Barcelona’s Councilor of Feminism and LGBTI rights. On both nights the full cast joined the trio in a crescendo and visual demonstration of the need to come together in community to succeed in ending violence against women. Given that the V-Day team was joined by politicians, it also sent a strong message about the importance of feminism in politics and the need for revolution within not only our social fabric, but within our policies as well.
Every word emitted from the stage, vibrating through the actresses’ and actors’ voices went far beyond performing a just a monologue for an audience; they told the true stories of those that perhaps were never able to for an audience that was ready to listen and that hopefully left differently that how they came.
V-Day reinforces the idea that the protest will continue #UntilTheViolenceStops. Various representations of, A Monologue, a Memory, a Rant and a Prayer and also of The Vagina Monologues take place throughout the world during the month of February. V-Day stipulates that they receive 10% of the proceeds from any production and that the other 90% go to local charities working to end violence against women and girls.
May these protest performances not be needed next year, but if they still are, may they be performed with even more strength, more community and more awareness.
__
A version of this text was published in Spanish for El-Teatro.com
