February 21- The Vagina Monologues

On Saturday, February 21st, 2009, I had the opportunity of attending The Vagina Monologues at CSUSM. The production was put on by the Women's Center and much of the proceeds went towards the Center for Community Solutions in Escondido. The Center for Community Solutions is a center that focuses on ending sexual assault and relationship violence. Before the play, the Women's Center organized a Vagina Fest, which featured different tables full of information on a variety of woman health issues and concerns, as well as information on important charities that help women out in the community.

Around 6:45 PM, the doors to ARTS 240 opened, and people started filing in to grab their seats. My friends and I sat down, and waited for the play to start. Previously, I had read the play, but this was my first time ever seeing the play itself. I was not sure what to expect exactly. I knew some of the monologues would be a bit uncomfortable, seeing as they deal with issues of sexual assault and violence, but I was still excited to finally get the chance to see the play preformed live.

As the play started, all of the actresses filed on stage. I was a bit surprised that I recognized a few of them: one of my old professors, one of my old high school classmates, and one of my best friend's Alpha Xi Delta sisters.

Overall, the play was fantastic, but what I loved the most was the stage decorations. It was extremely simple, just various velvety/taffeta fabrics draped over one another, hanging from the back wall. They made the stage symmetrical by making sure that there were corresponding colors on either side of the stage, which helped keep your eyes focused on center stage, where the girls were preforming. The textures of the velvet/taffeta fabrics gave the stage a feminine feel to it, which was perfect for the subject matter. I loved how simple the design was though, because it kept the background in the background, and made the girls standout during their performances.



I have always favored simple and clean designs over grungy, messy designs, and after seeing this play, it only reiterates how important it is to make sure your website background is not too overpowering that it takes away from the content of your website (i.e. our social issue papers, or other exercises).