On Sunday evening, Goshen Monologues hosted its twelfth annual performance in the Church Chapel. Centered on the feminine experience, the Monologues committee collects anonymously submitted stories, and then holds an open casting call to find people to perform those stories.
At the beginning of the show, members of the Monologues committee asked that the audience not clap in between pieces. Madeline Bollinger, a senior elementary education major and member of the Monologues committee, shared her thoughts on this practice. “I like to think of it as leaving some silence and space for people to consider what they’ve just heard and to reflect on it before the next one starts.”The event started as monologues written by women, and has now shifted to anyone who identifies with the feminine experience. Lindsey Graber, a junior English major and member of the Monologues committee, said, “A couple of years ago, they decided to change the wording even more to be anyone who identifies with the feminine experience in any way at any point in their lives.”
“I think this is one of the first we’ve received a monologue from a cisgender man who was openly in the monologue like, ‘Hey, I’m a man but I sort of identify with feminine experience,’ and I think that exemplifies what we are trying to do with changing language,” she said.
Eliza Aléman performs “Alter-Ego.”
One of the performers was Lexie Coburn, a senior elementary and special education double major, who performed a monologue called “Speaking Up,” which was about a teacher who had harrassed them being brought up in a conversation with friends from high school. After finishing, the room went as dark as one performer left and another walked out for the next performance.
Cheyenne Flanagan, a first-year theater and art double major and Monologues performer, said, “I feel like Goshen Monologues is the perfect way to have your voice heard without needing to put yourself out there. It’s a place to give voice to whatever is on your mind or what you’re struggling to heal from, and have others speak your words for you.”
Once the committee has recieved all of the monologues, they can then begin to move forward. First, they make basic edits to the submissions for clarity and performability. Then they begin to cast the performance and assign monologues to their performers.
The authors can choose to have influence over the casting decisions while still remaining anonymous. Graber said, “There is a stipulation on the Google form that says ‘Do you want someone of your particular identity to read this monologue’ so if it’s someone who is a Hispanic person and they want a Hispanic person to read the monologue we try to make that happen.”
If there is no one in the cast that fit the author’s stipulations, sometimes that piece will not be read, in an effort to best respect the author’s wishes.
With that exception, they do try to perform all of the other monologues they receive.
Luisa Dutchersmith, a senior elementary education and TESOL major who was a performer for Monologues, said, “I think Monologues is an important tradition for Goshen College because it is the only space on campus dedicated to people who identify with the feminine experience. It is a way for people who identify with the feminine experience to feel seen and heard, which I think is really important and meaningful.”
Even with an emphasis on telling underrepresented stories, a monologue performed this year pointed out that limiting it to the feminine experience means some stories aren’t being shared. Corburn said, “I strongly agree with that … it would be amazing if we created a space for all marginalized voices at GC to be heard and represented.”
Emma Campbell, Mireya Aléman and Luisa Dutchersmith perform “Embracing Womanhood.”
