REVIEW: THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES @ EXETER NORTHCOTT THEATRE

🎭 The Vagina Monologues

📍  Exeter Northcott Theatre, Stocker Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 4QB

🗓 Tuesday 15th July 2025

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REFRESHINGLY INNOVATIVE THEATRE

THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES is a show I've been intrested in seeing ever since it first emerged in the 1990's, and this production from Deafinitely Theatre further intrigued me as it was performed in British Sign Language by a deaf and hard of hearing company, with a mixture of female and non-binary performers.

The show is made up of a series of stories, based around women's real-life relationships with their vaginas. Writer V (formally Eve Ensler) wrote the piece after interviewing hundreds of women from a plethora of backgrounds.

On the whole the writing is very good and deeply expressive. This is a no holds barred dive into femininity and what it means to be a woman in the world. There is no shyness or sugar coating, with a certain amount of shock value which makes the piece feel exciting and fresh, even after 20 years.

Obviously as a cis-gendered man, there were many elements that I couldn't personally relate to, and that's fine because it's not my story being told. What the play does do from my perspective is to open my eyes to the experiences of women from all walks of life.

There is a real honesty about the piece which makes you sit up and think, and nothing is off limits. Each piece is snappy and straight to the point which is engaging and moves the narrative along at a great pace. It's a real rollercoaster of emotions because one minute you're laughing and the next you're filled with horror and sadness.

Having this production performed completely in BSL added a whole new level to it. Each performer injected so much power and emotion into their role, proving that acting is so much more than the spoken word.

The production used captions for those of us who don't speak BSL, flipping the narrative on a usual captioned performance. It has to be said that the way these captions were used were actually more user friendly than in a conventional setting. Captions are often to the side of a stage and quite high meaning those who need to use them can sometimes miss the onstage action due to the need to read them. This production however had them on a screen in the centre of the stage which also had live video footage of the action below, so it was just like reading subtitles when watching a movie. This was innovative and even more inclusive than I was expecting. Perhaps bigger theatre companies could learn a thing or two from this production.

As someone who doesn't usually need these sort of aids, it was nice to feel included in the creative process and not just like an afterthought. There is no virtue signalling here, everything has been meticulously thought out by an obviously very accomplished team.

I had a few minor niggles - some spelling errors and there were times where the caption flashed too quickly to read - but on the whole this production was very well executed.

This piece of theatre feels as politically and socially important as it was when it was first written, and is a must-see. To see a company like this shine on the stage is a wonderful experience, and I want to see more theatre like this. Pushing boundries and presenting established works in new, exciting ways can only be a good thing.

To find out more about Deafinitely Theatre and the work they do, CLICK HERE to their website.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one reviewer.  

My ticket for this performance of The Vagina Monologues was gifted by Exeter Northcott Theatre who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given. 

CAST LIST:

Abigail Gorman; Amy Morton; Cherie Gordon; FiFi Garfield; Lynn Stewart-Taylor; Mae Al-Kalamchi; Maral Mamaghanizadeh; Moona Mohammed; Raffie Julien; Yvonne Cobb

RUNNING TIME (approx):

1 hour 30 minutes, with no interval

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Strong language; Refrences to rape and abuse; Sexual language

AGE GUIDANCE:

14 +