Girl talk sparing no blushes (From Swindon Advertiser)

Girl talk sparing no blushes

12:24pm Thursday 3rd November 2011 in Reviews By Michelle Tompkins

I HAVE a dilemma: how do I review The Vagina Monologues for a respectable family newspaper such as this, given that every line, every breath, every gasp is about... well, ermm, let’s just say, lady parts?

The content of Eve Ensler’s widely-acclaimed play can’t really be discussed in detail here. Suffice to say the clue is in the title - and there are definitely no blushes spared.

Uplifting, poignant, hilarious, shocking and graphic in equal measure, the series of discussions and speeches is based on the playwright’s 200-plus interviews with women young and old about their, ahem, downstairs area.

Needless to say, the Wyvern audience was 99 per cent women, with a handful of brave (or foolish) men dotted about, and there can’t have been be one among them who didn’t find something to relate to or giggle about.

The actresses chosen to deliver the monologues have to be strong characters - these speeches are frank to the point of embarrassment - and the three who came to Swindon more than rose to the challenge.

Wendi Peters of Corrie fame took on most of the comedic roles, and shone as a well-spoken lady with a penchant for saying a particularly offensive word for...umm... front bottoms. So offensive, in fact, that when we were urged to shout that word out loud, some of the older ladies in the audience walked out.

Former Eastenders actress Louisa Lytton could have floundered as the youngest and presumably least experienced of the bunch, but delivered a brilliant finale complete with convincing sound effects.

And Zaraah Abrahams, who you may know from Waterloo Road, gave moving and heartfelt performances as both a victim of a rape camp in Bosnia and a child subjected to sexual abuse.

The play is intended as a celebration of the female, but also promotes the movement to stop violence against women. A percentage of ticket sales from every performance goes to V-Day, an initiative Eve Ensler set up to benefit rape centres worldwide.

I certainly went home feeling empowered and enlightened, with a warm and fuzzy feeling deep in my....heart.- MICHELLE TOMPKINS