With “The Vagina Monologues” quickly approaching, rehearsals are well underway to ensure the cast and crew is fully prepared.
“The Vagina Monologues” is a show put on by the University of Idaho Women’s Center to bring the community together by spreading education and awareness about violence against women. Performances of the show are 7 p.m. Feb. 10-11 at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Center.
Bekah MillerMacPhee, assistant director for programs at the Women’s Center, said the show is largely student-led.
“We bring the monologues here and we find students to direct it. We find students and community members, staff and faculty to be in it and we take ownership over it,” MillerMacPhee said.
In order to prepare for their upcoming performance, the cast began rehearsing Nov. 14, and they have been practicing once a week ever since, MillerMacPhee said.
A typical rehearsal lasts two to three hours and consists of practices and different activities to help the cast become familiar with their material and each other, MillerMacPhee said.
“We start by trying to be present in the space — we did a guided meditation in our last rehearsal. Then we warm up a little to get the creative juices going. Next, we jump into the play. We have been working on the group pieces recently. We end rehearsal in a circle and take some time to share some positivity with the group,” said graduate student Kelly Christensen.
Christensen, who has been part of “The Vagina Monologues” three times, said she got involved in the play because it’s a topic she feels strongly about. She will perform and act as support for the cast because of her previous involvement in the production.
The rehearsals help to build a community and friendships within the cast members, Christensen said.
“We have several women in the cast who have never been in a production of the monologues before, and I am so excited to see their journey through this process,” Christensen said.
MillerMacPhee said the production and rehearsals are making progress, as every rehearsal helps the crew become more accustomed to the material.
“This group is really collaborative. They’re really getting and giving energy to each other,” MillerMacPhee said.
The cast and crew play their own parts in helping out with the play, MillerMacPhee said.
“I’m the planner and I’m one of the producers, so I provide support to the director, the cast and the crew in several ways, and it looks different always depending on who the group is,” MillerMacPhee said. “I make sure that they have space to rehearse and I bring refreshments to rehearsal and if they need any guidance on how things have gone in the past, I give them that.”
Along with group rehearsals, MillerMacPhee said many of the cast members meet one-on-one with the director to practice and individually work on their monologues.
Group rehearsals have concluded for the remainder of the year, but MillerMacPhee said practice will pick up immediately once school resumes following winter break.
As the first performance gets closer, MillerMacPhee said the cast will begin rehearsing more than once a week to ensure that everyone is ready.
“They’re a really fun cast to watch,” MillerMacPhee said. “They’re having fun with it and they’re really allowing themselves to fully experience the range of emotions that the play evokes.”
Savannah Cardon can be reached at [email protected]