A Yellow Beanie Project is excited to share the news of their upcoming production of The Vagina Monologues by V, previously known as Eve Ensler. The staged reading of V's play will be directed by Claudia Warga-Dean The performance will take place on two nights at two different locations and are free to the public:

— Friday, March 8 at 6 p.m. at Dirty Whiskey Craft Cocktail Bar at Dirtbag Ales in Hope Mills

— Saturday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. at The Arts Center of Fayetteville/Cumberland County in Downtown Fayetteville

A Yellow Beanie Project started in 2020 during lockdown due to CoVID by Michael Curtis Houck. With a lack of live theater and events, A Yellow Beanie Project, like many creatives, turned to producing digital work.

“I started producing digital work with free release on YouTube and social media, offering a stipend, however small and whatever I could afford, to local artists. This was mostly experimental spoken word and monologues. During our first year, we also staffed and produced two short films,” Houck explained.

After positive feedback from the artists he had worked with, Houck believed there was a future for his organization and in 2022 he obtained a 501(c)(3) status and has been operating as an arts-focused non-profit for two years, mostly focused on life events.

Even though A Yellow Beanie Project’s next event is a live theater play, Houck feels that his organization is more than just a theater company.

“We also don’t want to be pigeonholed as a theater company; we’re multidisciplinary. Our board is made up of millennial-aged professionals with experience in theater, music, dance, filmmaking and literary forms. To date, we’ve produced and released (live or digital) 9 projects. Only three have been theater projects (Party at Jay’s, Rocky Horror Show, and Frankenstein). The Vagina Monologues will be our 10th project, and our 4th theater project,” said Houck.

The Vagina Monologues is a compilation of personal narratives that explore various aspects of the female experience. Originally written in 1996, this play garnered significant acclaim for its profound impact.
The relevance and importance remain intact as new monologues are included to illuminate the global challenges women encounter. For instance, in 2003, the monologue titled "Under the Burqa" depicted the life of an Afghan woman living under Taliban rule. In 2004, "They Beat the Girl Out of My Boy...Or So They Tried" recounted Ensler's encounters with women whose gender identity differed from their assigned sex at birth. The year 2004 also marked the first-ever all-transgender performance of the play.

A Yellow Beanie Project took on The Vagina Monologues as their next project after several actors had inquired if there were any theaters planning to do it in the region for the spring because they were looking to audition. After some research and concluding that no one in the area was making plans for the play, it was suggested to the board that it be the next production.

“While it has been our model to have me, our creative producer, lead most of the artistic projects during our start up, I turned this one over to someone who can lead the project with a viewpoint in line with the content. One of our board members, Claudia Warga-Dean is taking the reins here,” said Houck.

This is not the first time Warga-Dean has collaborated with A Yellow Beanie Project. Back in 2022 she and Houck co-directed Party at Jay’s, an immersive experience based on The Great Gatsby. Warga-Dean has also co-directed and directed a number of plays at FTCC, Gilbert Theatre, and at Gray’s Creek High School where she taught theatre arts for 9 years.

Both Houck and Warga-Dean believe that The Vagina Monologues are still relevant to perform today and has kept up with the cultural changes affect woman as well as keeping a spotlight on the sexual harassment and violence women, unfortunately, continue to encounter.

“The script has had revisions over the years as, especially as it has been attached to the V-Day movement, a global initiative to end violence against women. In 2024, The Vagina Monologues continues to provide a platform for amplifying diverse voices, challenging ongoing societal stigmas surrounding sexuality and gender, and advocating for inclusivity and empowerment for all individuals. We are thrilled to have a cast diverse in age, race and gender expression. To add to the 2024 relevance, we’ve brought on two guest speakers who will speak before the show, Adirenne Trego and Dominique Jeanette Womack, two brilliant local figures,” Houck explained.
Warga-Dean holds the same conviction.

“It isn’t fiction. It is a show developed by drawing on interviews that the playwright conducted with over 200 women. With all the reports of sexual harassment and sexual violence becoming known, it is evident that this play speaks truth. Actors will line up to audition and the audience will come out to see it. It is performed annually to bring attention to V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls. This play has been performed all over the world and it will continue to be performed. It is timeless because the truth of what it says has impacted so many,” said Warga-Dean.

To conclude, we asked Warga-Dean about the visual representation of femininity in the year 2024.

“That’s a tough, complex question. It is hard to pin down and define. I will say, I learned so much from my students when I was teaching. Just how outspoken they are and how unwilling they are to fall prey to social conventions, especially social conventions surrounding gender. I think, in 2024 we are realizing that gender is a personal journey, and it is not so black and white. It is not neatly packaged. Maybe that’s it. It’s unique to the person,” explained Warga-Dean.

She also believes that the A Yellow Beanie Project’s production of The Vagina Monologues will reflect the changing definition of what it means to be a woman or female in today’s world.

“Absolutely! That’s what we should strive to do as theater artists. Everyone’s stories should be told.

Luckily, I am working with the wonderful Michael Houck, and he is such an advocate for inclusion, and we have a theater community who is a part of that belief as well,” said Warga-Dean.

To get tickets to The Vagina Monologues visit A Yellow Beanie Project website at: https://www.ayellowbeanieproject.com/. To learn more about V-Day visit: https://www.vday.org/.