The senior cast members of this year’s production of As Told By Vaginas have recently released the new list of leadership for next year’s show. Juliette Verrengia ’16 was named Technical Producer and Rachel Maddox ’16 was named Artistic Director. The College Voice sat down with Verrengia and Maddox to discuss the new leadership team, next year’s show and what exactly is going on with the name of the club and the production.
TCV: Congrats on leadership for As Told By Vaginas! How did it feel when you found that you would be technical producer and artistic director?
JV: When I found out that I would be technical producer, I was really, really, really excited. I cried a little bit. I was also a little bit nervous because we have a lot of work to do, but it was a prepared and excited kind of nervous.
RM: I was also very excited. I really wanted to be the artistic director, I was really nervous that I wouldn’t get it because I wanted it so badly. It’s really special to me because we’ve both been doing iterations of this show since we were first-years. It’s exciting to takes the reins as seniors.
TCV: How was the first meeting of new leadership for the 2015-2016 year?
RM: It was good! I thought it went really well. We have a lot of really awesome people. I think what has been a standout in this year’s leadership in comparison to other years is that not everyone has the same opinion. There was a lot of pushback and challenging in ways that were respectful and sustainable, and that will help us a lot to move forward.
JV: I agree, I think that we have a lot of perspectives, probably a lot more perspectives than there have been in the past – especially in regards to class-years. There are a lot of first-years and a lot of sophomores which is exciting because we know that when Rachel and I leave there are people that care.
TCV: What is the deal with the name of the club and the show? That’s definitely something that has garnered a lot of confusion throughout campus.
JV: This is probably one of the biggest hurdles that the transformation of the show has had to handle. The Vagina Monologues was the feminist show for years and years. Eve Ensler (writer of The Vagina Monologues) did amazing work and the word vagina became much less taboo and a real source of strength for cis-gendered women, which is where the movement was at the time. The movement has since changed and expanded, and I like to think it has become a little bit more progressive. So in recent years, The Vagina Monologues has not been as applicable and inclusive as it once was. So last year we changed the production and the name to As Told By Vaginas. We kept the word vagina in the title because we wanted to maintain continuity and express that the overall message was the same. We have gotten a lot of feedback from the community that the name was exclusive and not explicative of all of the parts of being a woman because being a woman is more than just having a vagina. We have tried to respond to that feedback by naming the club The Women’s Empowerment Initiative, or The WE Initiative and as a group (the WE leadership team) we decided that the name of the production would be chosen based on the monologues that we get in the Fall. So now hopefully the club name will be able to stay the same from year to year and the production name can change every year with new leadership and monologues. I think the change is going to be really positive.
RM: Definitely more positive than what we were working with this year.
JV: One of the last things we want is for anything to take away from the message of the show and also from the point that it is a fundraiser for a really amazing, non-profit organization called Safe Futures.
TCV: What do you think went well with the big transition of the show this year from The Vagina Monologues to As Told By Vaginas?
RM: I think people in the cast and on leadership and who eventually saw the show felt more connected to what they were seeing, reading, performing and speaking. That was the main positive feedback that I received as somebody who was on leadership and also a performer. People heard something like “Vagina and the “Angry Itch” [a monologue performed in As Told By Vaginas] and related more easily. With The Vagina Monologues there are a lot of funny ones in that one as well but there are also many that are pretty dated. I was in one last year and I didn’t really know what it was about – my whole monologue group didn’t know what it meant. People in the audience were like, yeah you did a great job, but what was your monologue about? To have that kind of disconnect and misunderstanding really added to people not feeling as excited about The Vagina Monologues. What’s exciting about this is that it changes every year. People aren’t going to go to The Vagina Monologues every year because it’s the same show. This new production is going to have so much more variety and there is always going to be something different every year.
TCV: What are you hoping to improve upon for the coming production?
JV: One of the things that I would love to see happen is a few more bonding-oriented events. I think one of the main things that draws people into this type of show is the sense of community. A lot of that comes from tech week, where the whole cast of dozens of women are stuck in a room together for four hours every night of the week and then all day the night of the show; and it’s so much fun! You walk into that room and the excitement is tangible. It’s the best thing that I’ve experienced at this school and it’s one of the reasons why Rachel and I wanted to do this again. It could be even stronger if there are more supplementary events, and we have an amazing woman [Alenka Katsnelson ’16] in charge of supplementary events this coming year. Hopefully there will be more events on the weekends and in the evenings for people to get together and bond more and share experiences. We have also considered creating a purchasable, bound book of monologues, which would be a lot of work but also really exciting.
TCV: Do you think that separating the club name from the name of the show will make the supplementary events easier to organize?
JV: Yes, I think so because we are a feminist club, and in years past the club has been essentially only about The Vagina Monologues and the content of the show and now we have the opportunity to make club events open to everyone and to engage with the wider community.
TCV: What are you guys most excited about for next year?
JV: I’m excited to read new monologues! I was on the reading committee this year and reading new monologues was incredible. I’m excited to read about people’s experiences, especially people who are at this age where they are figuring everything out.
RM: Yeah, monologues, I’m excited to get different perspectives. I’m really excited about this new outreach position that we’ve created because I think that is what was missing this year. There are three people of color on leadership and I’m excited to be in the position that I’m in as a person of color. I can relate to that experience of sitting in an audience and asking where I fit in onstage and I’m excited to work with Fara Rodriguez ’16 (on-campus outreach chair), and Anna Marshall ’16 (off-campus outreach chair), to talk to groups and say “Hey let’s talk about our experiences” and having really good conversations that can generate change and will be meaningful to everybody on campus.
JV: I think that this year, ATBV leadership did a great job, especially producers Bettina Weiss ’15 and Alix Israel ’15. It was a huge transition, the work that went into it was incredible and we raised $15,000 for Safe Futures, but I’m excited to see how we can improve and how we can address those gaps of representation that were there this year. There’s going to be a more consolidated effort towards larger inclusion and I think that’s going to be really exciting for everyone.
TCV: What can members of the Conn community do to get involved with the show over the next year?
JV: REACH OUT. Really, really reach out. I understand the desire and urge to only talk to your friends and people you’re comfortable with and whose perspectives you understand, but that only goes so far. We will be acting on our beliefs, opinions and experiences as well as those that we hear. We can only work with the feedback and input that we hear. We heard feedback about the name and now we’re putting that feedback into action. I really hope that the community can see that we are trying to make a difference. I also hope that everyone writes monologues and auditions for the show, and comes to see the show. It’s also important to ask questions. If you hear or see anything that you want to talk about, come to me or Rachel or any of the 25 people on leadership.
TCV: Is there anything else you want people to know about next year?
RM: Come chat! If there’s anything that you want to know, there are 25 of us, so whoever you’re most comfortable with, come have conversations. Now is the perfect time for us to be getting feedback and making changes.
JV: I also want to say that last year, everything that happened because there was such push for a change. I want to say that this isn’t the end of The Vagina Monologues or As Told By Vaginas, it’s a continuation of everything that has come before. I hope that people really take it upon themselves to understand what’s going on with issues that are important to them. I hope that when people see the posters for the 2015-2016 show, they realize that it’s conveying the same message that it’s always been.
WE Initiative leadership team members:
Technical Producer: Juliette Verrengia
Artistic Director: Rachel Maddox
Directors: Emma Weisberg, Hayley Smith, Hannah Boal, Kate Goldberg, Chiara Gero
Supplementary Events Director: Alenka Katsnelson
Day Of Chair: Zoe Davis
Off Campus Outreach Chair: Anna Marshall
On Campus Outreach Chair: Fara Rodriguez
Safe Futures Liaison: Bridget Horan
Outreach Committee: Hannah Johnston, Miranda Young
Public Relations Director: Emma Hibbard
Public Relations Committee: Becca Tutino, Sara Rosenberg
Monologue Committee Chair: Mattie Barber-Bockelman
Monologue Committee: Samantha Weisenthal, Marta Martinez-Fernandez, Michelle Lee, Sarah Treaster, Josefin Karjel, Miranda Young, Phoebe Masterson-Eckart, Mia Haas-Goldberg
