‘Monologues’ in Everett

The title of the show is exactly what its name implies — monologues about women’s private parts.

“The Vagina Monologues,” based on more than 200 interviews with women from all backgrounds, is Eve Ensler’s award-winning play about women and sexuality.

Some of monologues, which gives voice to the real stories that Ensler recorded in her interviews, are funny. Others, like the rape of a Bosnian woman, are tragic.

All are provocative, and “The Vagina Monologues” has become a worldwide phenomenon, resulting in the creation of V-Day to end violence against girls and women.

Now the play comes to Snohomish County, where it opens tonight at the historic Everett Theatre as the season-opening production of the New Everett Theatre.

“I chose the show because it challenges old belief systems that have been passed along for years,” said Victoria Walker, the theater company artistic director.

Among those beliefs are that you can’t talk about your body, even say the word, Walker said, and much more, such as rape, sexual abuse and violence against women.

“Though it is controversial in its nature we (the theater company’s board of directors) are looking forward to sharing the experience of the monologues with the community,” Walker said.

“Through reading the show I have discovered that this is just a peek into the many experiences of women, but my real discovery was that the women of Bosnia are the same as women in Everett. The stories are the same. The show is telling the story for all of us. It is sharing our gender and not being afraid to do so.”

Although the vast majority of their productions are mainstage plays and musicals, the New Everett Theatre is willing to embrace productions with an edge.

Among last season’s plays was “The Laramie Project,” a documentary-style drama about the aftermath of the 1998 hate-crime murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student. The show was a critical, if not a box office, success.

But the response to “The Vagina Monologues” has been positive, Walker said, and group sales among women have been brisk.

Walker said she wants to do one show each season that’s edgy and that “speaks to things that affect us on a daily basis.”

“The Vagina Monologues” consists of 12 monologues delivered by 12 women and includes discussion of orgasms, pelvic exams, sexual abuse, sexual fantasies and childbirth.

The stories have been hailed as poignant and hilarious, witty and irreverent, compassionate and wise.

The show, which has played on college campuses and theater companies around the country, has attracted a who’s who roster of artists from the entertainment industry including Winona Ryder, Whoopi Goldberg, Cate Blanchett and Brooke Shields.

Among the local women who will make a guest appearance during the run of the play, according to Walker, will be Brenda Stonecipher, Everett City Council member; Kim Bedier, general manager of the Everett Events Center; and Dr. Kathy Hettel, an Everett-area physician.

“We invited these many women to be involved because they are prominent women in our community, successful and thoughtful women,” Walker said.

“These women lend a voice to the show and to many women who aren’t actresses, who need a voice. These women are also involved to support the theatre, its new direction and its future.”

Rachel Bowen directs the cast of 12, and performances are weekends through Oct. 23. Artists William Bowen and Michael Mercer have created 12 paintings that hang as part of the set, each offering an impression of one of the 12 monologues. Ten of those paintings will be sold in silent auction with proceeds benefiting the historic Everett Theatre.