Out from the shadows
W
MENding Monologues takes the world by storm
ith the recent revela-
tions about influential
men using their pow-
er to sexually harass
and abuse women,
and female victims
twitting “#MeToo” to
show solidarity and
support, the work of
The MENding Mono-
logues couldn’t be more timely.
In 2006, The MENding Mono-
logues made its debut in Sedona, Ari-
zona and has gone on to be performed
across the country and around the
world. Created by local writer and
director Derek Dujardin, this live
stage show first launched using local
men who wrote and performed per-
sonal monologues exploring issues of
gender violence and sexuality from a
male perspective. What was supposed
to be one-time only performance to
raise money for the Verde Valley
Sanctuary has become a worldwide
movement with dozens of shows per-
formed at colleges and communities—
some as far away as Korea, Ireland
and Kenya.
So how did a local Sedona theatre
production end up an international
export? According to Dujardin, The
MENding Monologues was developed
to be sort of an unofficial companion
piece to The Vagina Monologues,
written by playwright and activist
Eve Ensler. In fact, each year the V-
Day Worldwide Campaign and One
Billion Rising allows communities to
perform The Vagina Monologues roy-
alty-free during the month of Febru-
ary to help raise money for nonprofit
groups dedicated to stopping violence
towards women and girls. It was in
support of this cause that The MENd-
ing Monologues was written. Then
the show followed in the footsteps
of its big sister, allowing royalty-free
performances of its script. Today, the
shows are often performed together,
with male and female casts working
together in solidarity.
“I had been a fan of The Vagina
Monologues and supported local V-
Day productions in Sedona and other
communities as a spectator for many
years,” said Dujardin. “Then in 2006,
Sedona playwright Brenda Adelman
asked me if I would be interesting in
writing and producing a ‘men’s show”
about gender violence with an all male
cast. I said yes, not really knowing
what I would be getting myself into.”
After writing several light comic
pieces for the show, Adelman chal-
lenged Dujardin to write about the
how sexual violence had personally
impacted someone close to him. He
wrote about a time in college when he
had been friends with both the raped
and the rapist. “I knew about what
had happened to my friend Linda,
but I had no idea that guy who did it
was actually a friend of mine named
Dean. This was back in 1989. I remem-
bered him making rape jokes, and
sexist remarks, but didn’t challenge
him those comments, thinking he
was only just ‘kidding around.’ Later,
I realized this was man who had
raped my friend, this wasn’t just talk
with him. When I told that story on
stage—which I still have a lot shame
around—I discovered it was story that
many men resonate with until this
day because they have had similar
experience. It ends with me saying
that my silence was a type of tacit
complicity, and that courage to speak
out is the antidote to silence.”
Besides having usually hav-
ing an all male cast, The MENding
Monologues is completely different
The Vagina Monologues in another im-
portant way. The Vagina Monologues
has strict rules about men performing
in the show, or women performers
writing their own stories and perform-
ing them in the show. The MENding
Monologues encouraged performers to
add their own monologues to the show
in an ever-growing collection of stories.
IMAGINE
l
Fall 2018 9