would you be happy for you 16 yr old dc to study and perform the vagina monalogues?

[beautifuldays]

because my dh is a teacher and walked in today to find that his HOD has organised for some yr 12 pupils to study and perform this at a local theatre.......

great experience but he's worried that parents are going to complain and tbh in his (and my) opinion the language and imagery are not really appropriate for a bunch of 16 year olds. are we just prudes or should he say something to the head teacher about this?

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here her cod!

I was embarrassed to be seen leaving the theatre

Maybe you went to see crap versions! I saw it in Scotland, with Carol Smillie and two Scottish comedians, it was bloody brilliant and yes it was highbrow and thought-provoking, and funny.

Agree to disagree then

I thought it was brilliant

can't remember who the actors were.

And yes bits of were high brow, bits of it low. That's what was good about it

(Shall I start a reclaiming the word thread? )

i dont think so no
just a bit too adult for a lot of 16 year olds to handle in a mature manner
bet the parents would be shocked

Year 12 I think is fine.

I was studying Steven Berkoff at A Level at that age and we read East as background reading to the author. it is peppered with the c word. I can bet that they will be discussing this, whether its use is justified/effective, what reaction was the playwright trying to get etc etc.

Some of them will be thinking about preparing for uni drama courses and beleive me, things get a lot worse at uni.

(vague recollections of having to go and watch an play called Anatomy of Two Exiles where two actors got their kit off and simulated sex with a white sheet with a hole in the middle.)

I think I would have been mortified to have to do this at 16. Feel sorry for the pupils...

I am assuming also that these kids are ones who have chosen to study A Level Theatre Studies, or possibly English Lit.

Your average 16 year old drama student would not be mortified, you generally know what you are getting in to when you chose to study this subject.

I chose to study A level English Lit, and degree level English Lit, but I would still have been mortified. However, if 16 year olds are that much more mature now, then that is all to the good, obviously.

To be honest Dinosaur, I doubt if it is the English Lit students who are going (many of whom I imagine would be mortified). I am guessing it is the drama students who really should not be doing the subject at A level if they can;t cope with something like the Vagina Monologues.

Actually, this issue is very interested. Back when I was in 6th form doing A levels parents would not have been considered/consulted at all over the content of a course. We were in most respects treated as adults responsible for our own learning.

It is the idea of them performing it at a "local theatre" that makes my mind boggle! I think it would be different if they were 18 and already away from home at university and not performing it in front of an audience (who may not be terribly sophisticated) from their home town!

Ah, I think we are at cross purposes then. I imagine this is a study day and workshop performance (not to an outside audience). In fact I'm sure it must be becasue with a professional tour on the performing rights won't be available for school/amateur versions.

I guess they are going to a local theatre to do a workshop based on the play with some actors/theatre education people and the day/course etc will end by them performing excerpts or whatever they have worked on to their peers.

islandofsodor, I totally agree with you that studying it would be fine - and really positive - speaking as someone who was raped at 13 I couldn't agree more - but the OP clearly says that they are to study and perform it at a local threatre so in my ignorance I assumed this would be for an outside audience .

What you say makes so much more sense.

If, on the other hand it is a "proper performance" then the OP's dh's HOD had better do his legal homework.

I can't find out who are the rights holders so assume they are not available.

Having done some digging it does seem theat there is a special "V-Day" version which schools and community groups around the world are encouraged to perform in aid of organisations that help prevent violence towards women. VDay itself is Feb 14th but they are allowing performances between January and March.

There are strict guidelines however and one of these is that a school/college performance must take place at the school and a community group must perform at a local community space.

apparently they do have the rights as it is a version different to the one in the west end and they are performing it in the local theatre to an outside audience. apparently because they aren't charging an entrance fee you don't have to pay for the rights, the same way that you would if you sold tickets.

anyway - dh mentioned it to the head today who knew nothing about it and was a bit shocked to say the least....

The production I saw was excellently done. I agree with LittleBella: I doubt any of these Year 12 students are going to come across any language/images etc that they haven't already heard/seen.Look at your average magazine read by kids younger than A level students - full of 'position of the week', 'real life sex stories ' etc. What WILL be new to them is they'll gain a different and probably very valuable perspective on these things.

Beutiful days. The bit about no entrance fee is wrong, it is a common misconception though.

The only time that no rights are payable is if the play is performed solely to members of the institution performing it. So the school could perform to other students and teachers but not parents.

The rights holders are allowing groups to perform this for free if it is part of the V-Day campaign but the rules clearly state theat it has to be performed on site at the school or a community centre, not a theatre.

"Under NO circumstances may any person or school present a V-Day Campaign event without registering their event directly with V-Day each and every year.
V-Day explicitly states that its mission is to end rape, incest, battery, female genital mutilation and sexual slavery. By producing a V-Day event you hereby agree that these issues are valid and you accept responsibility to raise awareness about them.
Information about V-Day, its mission, its goals and its achievements must be presented in some form at all V-Day events.

You are permitted to have no more than 2 performances of each of the presentations.
You must use the V-Day version of The Vagina Monologues which will be made available to you on the V-Spot. Absolutely no edits or alterations may be made AT ALL. You may not use excerpts of the play in advertising or preliminary events

We do ask that you sell tickets to your V-Day event. Admission to your event via suggested contribution or donation is permitted if your school will not allow direct ticket sales or if you feel your community cannot afford tickets. (Remember, we are trying to raise awareness and money to stop violence against women and girls.)

Please donate 10% of the net profits from the overall fundraising efforts from your event?s to V-Day for the V-Day 2008 Spotlight: Women of New Orleans."

In the sign up process you are asked to identify yourself as being from a College/University, city or high school so that we may delineate between events. Your venue must coincide with what you have chosen. If you are a college student or administrator and have signed up as such, your event must take place on a college campus. If you are a community member, your event must be in a community space and if you are a high school student or administrator, your event must take place in a high school.

It looks like a school in Kidderminster is participating according to the website, all the other places listed are universities.

Not read all the posts on this but having seen the Vagina Monologues (along with my childhood heroine Sarah Green faking an orgasm complete with on stage fireworks) I wouldn't be comfortable with a 16 year old of mine reading it as set text at school. Are they going to skip the monolgue entitled "reclaiming cunt"?!

maybe it's not that v-day thing then, i'm confused now. which website is it on islandofsodor?

www.vday.org/contents/action/organize

oh ok found it now