All-deaf cast takes on "Vagina Monologues" at the Ritz

“The Vagina Monologues”
WHEN: Feb. 19-20, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
WHERE: The Ritz Theater, 345 13 Ave. NE
TICKETS: $19

Playwright/actress/activist Eve Ensler had to have known that “The Vagina Monologues” would shock more than a few people when she wrote it in the mid-1990s. The play, which is composed of several monologues relating in some way to lady parts, raised eyebrows and awareness and soon became something of a runaway cult hit, with celebrities like Jane Fonda and Oprah taking the mic in Ensler’s place.
The Ritz Theater in Minneapolis is the latest to take on “The Vagina Monologues” in an unconventional manner. An all-deaf cast will perform the monologues, but there will be voice actors to help out if you’re not familiar with sign language.
Ensler wrote the monologues after chatting with hundreds of women and from her own experiences, but they’ve taken on a life of their own as a tool of social activism. The work has been interpreted by the transgender community, disputed and argued over by feminists, cherished by a generation of women and translated into 24 languages, with profits often going to the community in which they are performed.
“What makes this performance unique is seeing the ‘Vagina Monologues’ in American Sign Language,” director Jessalyn Frank said. “You get all the language and humor with an ASL aspect, which contains body language, sign language and facial expressions. It really gives more to the performance.”
But this alternative-style performance is far from a novelty. Staging “The Vagina Monologues” with an all-deaf cast does more than entertain and inform; it’s also meant to educate the deaf community about sexual abuse.
“Because the deaf community is small and everyone knows everyone, if [someone] was to stop at a booth for domestic violence or sexual violence, people would fear they knew your business,” said Frank.
Organizers of this staging are hoping to support the deaf community and reach out to them in a non-threatening manner.
“With no funding from the state or federal government, we fend for ourselves. Many hearing people think the deaf should be mainstreamed but do not realize that the deaf community victims prefer to be abused than isolated, which means without communication,” she said.
In a similar endeavor two years ago, Frank and her cohorts raised $15,000 and they hope to make more this time around, specifically to hire a deaf advocate to aid with court appearances and filings.
“It’s a show you don’t want to miss,” she says. “People who go to our show get a sense of a very different culture.”