On February 18, I performed in our Atlanta V-Day Community Production of the Vagina Monologues. In my last blog on the subject, I shared the story of I first came to the project, as well as a bit about my relationship with Eve Ensler— the extraordinary woman who wrote the Vagina Monologues, started V-Day and the One Billion Rising movement to end violence against women and girls globally. If you don’t know who she is or about V-Day/One Billion Rising movement, I implore you to click the link and read.
When I heard the Vagina Monologues was going to be performed this year, I piped up to let the director know I wanted to audition. Ever since I saw my first performance, I thought, “Wow that would be so much fun!” Now, mind you, I am NOT an actress. I may speak in public and be comfortable on stage, but when it comes to learning a monologue and giving it life… well, I discovered I was WAY out of my comfort zone.
You all know the mantra that you should do one thing each year that scares you. Well, mission accomplished. I was terrified.
Once we entered rehearsals, I discovered I was one of only a few women performing who weren’t actresses or even had a theater background. That made me even more nervous!
My monologue was also the one opening the play.
I had to remind myself I was the one who wanted to do this and that I was doing this for ALL the women in the world who have been abused or treated as less than.
I thought I’d found my happy place, and then the evening performance sold out and I had more than 30 people I knew in the audience! Oh, the pressure!
I did the absolute best I could and went for it! I was truly scared out of my mind, but I worked through the fear and did it anyway.
As a result of the our community efforts, we raised $4,500 for V-day Georgia Coalition against Domestic Violence and House of Dawn.
In the end, I’m so glad I went for it. The V-Day performance was amazing. The group of women who performed was extraordinary, and I’m so proud of what we accomplished.
Here is the video of my Monologue, Hair. It’s taking A LOT for me to share this!
