Pussy ... Coochie Snorcher ... Front Bottom ... Fanny ... Honey Pot ... Vagina - dare I say it Cunt! The elephant in the room that we try to ignore; the 'unfortunate absence' that is the font of all human life. Freud whacked us all over the head with his phallocentric theories but the tide has turned. The vagina has come into its own, the cunt has made a comeback. Leading the charge into polite society, rendering the unthinkable acceptable is Eve Ensler's internationally successful play The Vagina Monologues. Famous actresses vie for a go at this juicy and fashionable theatrical event. Thus, this celebration and liberation of the female down under, has made it down under (ho ho). Over three years since its New York premiere can we still see what all the fuss was about?

In this production directed by Caroline Stacey, three women (Denise Roberts, Tracy Mann and Rebekah Elmaloglou) sit on a row of stools and individually perform the monologues of 'real' women talking about their vaginas. These range from the tragic to the humorous. We hear as a Bosnian woman talks of being raped, a polite elderly Scottish woman describes her life long embarrassment of a youthful sexual response, and a young girl learns sexual pleasure from the lesbian next door. There are asides as to the naming and describing of the vagina, from the celebratory to demeaning. As a whole, it functions indeed as an oral history of our attitudes to the cunt. The selection of the three women was a masterful balance of talents and abilities. Though it was shame they all continued to be half reading from the script, which I found distracting. Denise Roberts has an excellent grasp of accents and takes on enveloping characters with a pleasing ease, she is utterly believable. Tracy Mann has a very powerful theatrical presence, she appears supremely confident and was very fine at the more emotionally complex and controversial individuals, digging deeper (a 13 year old girl discovers sex with an older woman and enjoy it - shocking!) Rebekah Elmaloglou has a very physical presence and a real talent for comedy. Her rendition of the numerous ways women communicate their orgasms verbally from dog to diva was the humorous highlight for me.

In a sense, the 'dirty linen' was aired here and even for a supposedly liberated woman such as me, this was extremely affirming to actually hear experiences of the vagina talked about. Most women are humiliatingly devoid of understandings of their own bodies and cultural evaluations of the cunt are yet to be established. When are we to read of seaside holidays as indicative of a need to return to the warm wet confines of the maternal body, eh? However, when the evening concluded with a rousing song of "cunt cunt cunt cunt" (to the music of Frére Jacques) a number of the overwhelmingly female audience seemed embarrassed. Was this redundant or had The Vagina Monologues managed to get too close for comfort? If the latter point be the case then productions such as this are essential to breaking through the barriers of shame and ignorance that confront women when thinking of their bodies.

However, the battle cry 'lady love your cunt' has been made long ago, indeed since Germaine Greer made the feminist body fashionable. Ensler's work draws very much upon this tradition and ultimately other than the performance, sharing aspect of it all, I learnt nothing new at The Vagina Monologues. Rather than bleeding edge theatre, The Vagina Monologues seemed to be making body feminism palatable to the masses. There was no mention of the more scary aspects such as menstruation and childbirth was given only a look in, lest it all get a bit icky. Masturbation was not validated, nor penetrative sex evaluated and the clitoris was not talked about nearly enough. Whilst aiming for the up close and personal, the production still stayed a bit distant and professional. The performances were good but they did not melt into any candid dialogue.

What ever its limitations, the world needs The Vagina Monologues, most women should see this, I'd advocate school trips to it, indeed anything it takes to get women talking. For an understanding and openness with regard to the cunt represents, I believe, a better comprehension of how it functions and an overall acceptance of self and sexuality. How much more good and clean can fun get?

Details

The Vagina Monologues at the Brisbane Powerhouse
Written by Eve Ensler
Directed by Caroline Stacey
Starring Denise Roberts, Tracy Mann and Rebekah Elmaloglou