Saturday night, Ledcat and I caught a local performance of The Vagina Monologues at the City Theater. It was bloggers night. I snatched two tickets as soon as word hit the Internet. Clearly, this was the perfect occasion for Ledcat and I to see the show that pretty much defines your feminist street cred.
Overall, it was a good experience. The performers were engaging, the venue was comfortable and the crowd was energetic. They built up the tension by alternating humorous skits with soulful monologues. The piece about the use of rape in war zones was very sad. The piece that pushed the envelope involved a survivor of childhood sexual assault describing the healing she found at the age of 13 when she was “seduced” by a 24 year old woman.
That was tough and several of us chatting afterward agreed that there was just no way that was gonna fly. While you feel this empathy and appreciation that the child found solace and comfort being treated with gentleness, the fact remains that the 24 year old woman seducing a child is little better than the grown man who raped her at the tender age of 10. I was angry that the child's earlier experience made the “seduction” seem less of a violation.
You can catch the Vagina Monologues at the City Theater through Feb. 17th and if you mention “blog” when you call you can save $5.00. The number is 412-431-2489. (I learned that calling versus purchasing tickets online will save you a few extra dollars.)
After the show, we toodled up to Cambod-ican Kitchen which was packed. We caught a table in the corner and enjoyed one of favorite meals. If you like Asian food, I highly suggest you swing by sometime.
Sunday we met up with Gab Bonesso for a late breakfast at the Square Cafe. She and John McIntire have a show coming up on January 25 at the Club Cafe. We'll blog more about that later. Suffice to say that this show will be minus the clump of shlubs from her last show. Plus, one of our favorites, Jason Kirsch, will be performing.
Breakfast with Gab is a good time. She's one of the best hanger outters I know. Admittedly, I have low standards … coffee and witty banter are my bailiwicks … but throw in some bacon,and references to sixteen obscure bands that Ledcat loves and it is a heck of a morning.
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I'm glad you enjoyed the show. I hadn't seen it before either, and this special deal was a nice benefit.
I agree with you on the questions about the monologue with the young girl. I think that has been one of the most controversial ones in the show; Wikipedia has a couple of paragraphs about it. I wonder if the appeal of the name “Little Coochie Snorcher” caused Eve Ensler to overlook the bigger issue. Surely among the 200-some interviews she conducted, there was another one she could have used that touched on the same ideas but didn't come across as condoning statutory rape.
Anyway, overall the show was great. Another group of bloggers went out for drinks and food to the Tuscany Cafe — I'm sorry we missed you.
It was nice. We hit up Tuscany BEFORE the show. 🙂 What other bloggers were there? I'm very out of the loop.