On Jan. 18 in Knight Auditorium, the Feminist Empowerment Movement (FEM) hosted auditions for the third annual Vagina Monologues at Adrian College.
“The people that showed up all had merit, and they would be pretty decent for the roles,” said senior Amila Zecevic, president of FEM and director of the Vagina Monologues.
Last November there was another session of tryouts, and between the two trials, 12 women auditioned all together.
Zecevic said that in order to have all the monologues assigned, at least 17 people must audition. One way Zecevic is trying to fill these roles is by emailing students who took part in the Vagina Monologues in previous years.
“They showed really good integrity, [and] have experience with memorizing lines,” she said.
Senior Breanne Stokes took part in the theatrical movement last year as the “Angry Vagina.”
“I think it went really well [last year]. It was definitely a successful event,” said Stokes. “I really hope that [this year] will be just as successful, if not more so, than last year.”
Stokes said that she wanted to try out for the event when she was a sophomore, but was worried about acting in it. However, after she attended the program, she knew she wanted to be a part of it and encourages others to get involved as well.
“I really like what they’re all about. It’s empowering for women. It’s the things they go through,” she said. “It’s a good thing that people should be involved in.”
Zecevic hopes that the Vagina Monologues will help the campus better understand FEM and challenge the misconceptions that are often associated with the group, such as the belief that feminists are “man-haters.”
“We want more men involved,” she said. “Everyone is welcome.”
She also hopes that the Vagina Monologues will be educational and help encourage people to be open-minded.
“This play itself shows how people get treated, and how they deal with it,” she said. “I think the purpose is more or less to get a wider audience to understand the differences between women and to allow people to be themselves.”
Senior Jamie Hollingshead is the vice president of FEM and the producer for the Vagina Monologues.
“I think it’s a creative way to express gender discrimination,” she said about the event.
According to Hollingshead, this program helps bring a sense of understanding and awareness of issues by presenting a touchy subject in a way that is more comical and relatable.
“It’s helpful to open people up to the subject,” she said. “Sometimes you need something like [the Vagina Monologues] to make people more comfortable.”
Zecevic and Hollingshead are training juniors Chelsea Howe and Clara Bauman to take over management of the Vagina Monologues for next year.
“Everyone who has tried out so far has been really good,” said Bauman. “Right now we’re having problems with people trying out. We need more people. We’d like to have as many people in it as we can to have a good show.”
The Vagina Monologues are scheduled to take place on March 29 and 30 at 7 p.m. in the Tobias Room. Anyone interested in helping out or being a part of the program can contact Zecevic at azecevic@adrian.edu.