Chucked Up Theatre Wants Us to Talk About Sexual Disorders
“It’s 2019; why are women still being shamed for having bodies?” Chucked Up Theatre, a female-led theatre-company, asks. Let’s talk about female sexual health and pleasure. Let’s talk about sexual disorders. Let’s talk about vaginismus. This is what their new production, Have I Told You I’m Writing A Play About My Vagina? aims to address. It’s serious, hilarious, and a heartening portrayal of what it’s like for one’s body to be at odds with one’s mind. Chucked Up Theatre is a Manchester, U.K.-based company. They create “inclusive, experimental, and stimulating work which seeks out the humour and heart in typically uncomfortable topics,” they write on their Kickstarter campaign page. This play is their second production and follows their sold-out debut play, Girls Will Be Girls, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017. In this comedy, the narrative depicts one woman’s experience with vaginismus, a sexual disorder which causes “an involuntary muscle contraction of the vagina that makes penetration painful or even impossible,” writes Chucked Up Theatre. Research shows that anywhere between 5 percent and 17 percent of women suffer from it in their lifetime. By following the life of Bea and her vagina, “Vag,” the storyline takes the audience through moments of intense personal pain and self-discovery.It’s shameless, feminist, and brings awareness to a sexual disorder that no one cares to talk about.Not only does the company create something irresistibly funny, they also provide an important message. The company writes that “Bea’s vagina can narrate, DJ, and dance, but she can’t have sex; Vag’s Bea refuses to hear her issues: a will-they-or-wont-they odd couple that happen to be anatomically attached.” This narrative comes from the company’s writer, Ella Langley, who was diagnosed with vaginismus a few years eariler. In depicting a personal experience, Langley fearlessly shares her experience with the crowd. A preview for the play took place at The Bunker Theatre, a contemporary performance space in an old underground parking garage in Southwark, London. As the production began, the lights dimmed, and at the center of the stage, Bea was sitting on a toilet struggling to insert a tampon. This opening scene felt revolutionary, especially as moments like this feel like disgraceful moments in women’s lives. Often, these instances are kept hidden and too taboo to be represented in popular culture. The company claims that the production “seeks to empower those who are female-identifying to build a lasting relationship with all parts of their anatomy.” But building such a relationship often takes years to understand and includes traumatic doctor visits, isolation, and lack of intimacy. Because of the nature of the play talking about issues that no one else seems able to speak on, some of the most enthralling moments of the play were the interactions between Bea and the doctors she met with. It was heartbreaking to watch her first doctor simply dismiss everything she was feeling, a circumstance that feels eerily familiar to queer and female-identifying audiences. In having our pain disregarded by medical professionals and often chalked up to being our fault, this portrayal on stage was difficult to watch, but so, so necessary to display. Later in the play, Bea meets with a different doctor, and this time, she arrives armed with a pre-written note on her phone. As she anxiously reads through the note, this time the doctor carefully listens without interjecting. Finally, space is opened up in the medical sphere where Bea can discover what is affecting her sexual health. This moment feels cathartic, both for Bea and marginalized viewers. The production juxtaposes painful experiences with comedy and had viewers alternating between tears and laughter, especially as Bea and Vag start listening to one another and joyfully dance across the stage.
“A skewering and honest jumble of sexual encounters, patronising pamphlet voice-overs, and a dilation samba; the piece slowly unravels an unconventional love story for the ages,” states Chucked Up Theatre.The play displays vulnerability at its core, and this means giving the audience glimpses into the aspects of female sexual health that our culture wants to erase. After watching the story unfold, viewers are apt to ask themselves: how well are we listening to our bodies? And how comfortable are we with talking about the uncomfortable underbelly of having sex? Ultimately, the company hopes to change the obscure narrative of vaginismus. “We want Have I Told You I’m Writing a Play About My Vagina? to open up conversations about vaginal conditions, empowering women to seek help and medical advice, and to take back control of their own bodies sooner rather than later.” Art provided by Chucked Up Theatre
