TaDa! Events Vero Drake Talks The Vagina Monologues
TaDa! Events is Back with The Vagina Monologues!
As promised, we’re delivering up close and personal cast spotlights for TaDa! Events upcoming show The Vagina Monologues! If you’ve missed our opening TaDa! Events Spotlight article relating to The Vagina Monologues, you can click on any of the cast names in the following list to learn more as we publish them here daily!
June 09/21 Article: TaDa! Events Gita Klaus talks about The Vagina Monologues
June 10/21 Article: TaDa! Events Sheilagh Guy Murphy talks about The Vagina Monologues
After over a years hiatus of Covid-19 cancellations, TaDa! Events is at long last back on the big stage in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Now that summer is just around the bend, TaDa! Events will be doing their production of the Vagina Monologues this month (June) on Thursday the 17th and Friday the 18th.
Sticking to true TaDa! fashion with a glamourous cast and amazing crew, we can expect nothing less from TaDa! when it comes to their casts one-of-a-kind, legendary performances.
As you read this article, we are going to say it here… it is AMAZING to have the cast and crew back together again to deliver some show stopping performances by some of the provinces best to get Newfoundland and Labrador riled up into an entertaining summer. After all, we have all been cooped up in lockdowns since we cannot even remember, right?
About The Vagina Monologues:
In 1996, Eve Ensler created The Vagina Monologues based on her interviews with more than 200 women of various ages, cultures and backgrounds whose stories range from happy, to sad, to angry, to confused, to tragic, to hilarious. Each soliloquy tells a different woman’s experience with topics like sex, love, tenderness, embarrassment, cruelty, pain and pleasure. It is about the empowerment of women with vaginas and women without them and honoring the right of everyone to talk about their reality. The Vagina Monologues has been called one of the great political plays of our time and a must see for anyone who is a woman or knows a woman. TaDa! Events’ production of The Vagina Monologues stars an age and gender inclusive cast: Sheilagh Guy Murphy, Tessa Crosbie, Sabrina Roberts, Gita Klaus and Vero Drake, and is directed by Terri Andrews.
Click here to get your tickets!
Up Close and Personal with The Vagina Monologues Vero Drake:
Q. What role do you play in the Vagina Monologues, Vero?
“I play multiple characters throughout various parts of the show. I begin as more or less myself, and as we progress, I act as a conduit for a few different voices that tell their own story. Each piece I perform has shared fragments that bleed into each other, as well as distinct differences to keep the show interesting as it unfolds.”
Q. Vero, what makes the Vagina Monologues an important show?
“TVM is a play that has been alive for a quarter of a century now, with much of its original purpose still crucial today. The issues of sex, sex work, body image, love and relationships, menstruation, birth, pleasure, and violence are important now more than ever in our society that is seeking to destigmatize these kinds of topics and conversations. While I think some of the script is outdated, I think how relevant the overarching themes explored and political potential of the show still has is important for any marginalized gender.”
Q. How does this Vagina Monologues show differ from others?
“In our local context this is the first time a trans actor has been included in a professional production of TVM in our province. The personal history and experience that I bring to the stage will be heard throughout the trans specific monologue, and the other pieces I explore will be reimagined in new ways using my unique voice in this project.”
Q. Can you tell us a bit about the important role of the inclusion of transgender women in TaDa! Event’s version of The Vagina Monologues?
“This monologue was written by Ensler over 15 years ago in effort to correct the exclusion of trans women from previous scripts using narratives of the trans women she worked with in the first-ever all-transgender production of the show back in 2004. A documentary was produced about this notable expansion of the show in 2006 entitled Beautiful Daughters, lifted from a line in the script. A lot has changed in the arena of trans rights and freedoms throughout America and beyond since then, while some things have unfortunately stayed the same. The shared threads of experience that myself and the women this monologue was written about are undeniable to me as someone with transfeminine experience. I think there is something in the monologue for every trans girl, woman, femme, or nonbinary person whose trans femininity has been or continues to be a part of their journey.”
Q. What do you feel are the most important takeaways or key aspects from the show?
“I hope that the important takeaway from the show is greater awareness of the violence against women that continues to happen everyday, destigmatization of the bodies and sexuality of those with vaginas, and more empathy for women, trans people, and sex workers.”
Q. How does it feel to be back on stage since Covid-19?
“Luckily for me the last time I was on stage was prior to Covid-19, and this post-Covid show is my second time on the big stage. I am grateful for the opportunity and to all of us working together in tandem with the right protocols in place to help us get back to what we love to do which is tell stories.”
Q. Besides being an emerging actor in the province, you are also a writer and visual artist as well! Can you tell us a bit more about your art practice outside of acting?
“Acting was not my first love affair with the creative arts, as I began writing poetry and designing digital art in my early teens. These passions culminated in my debut multimedia poetry collection estrogenesis which was designed, illustrated, and written by myself with the assistance of a few trusted creative partners. It features over 20 pages of original artwork as well as nearly 100 pages worth of poetry. I released the digital edition of the collection in 2019 and am expanding the project to a brand new physical edition along with select prints this summer or fall.
A visual art piece of mine, PSYREN (madness of a merchant maid), was featured in May at the rOUGE Gallery at Eastern Edge. A triptych combining both visual art and poetry, the work explores the horrors and dreams of myself as a mad queer+trans sex worker. Most recently I have completed a new visual art series of 50 original works entitled From Water in Ecdysis. The series re-imagines origin of life mythologies through the digital manipulation of my trans body. I hope to share prints of the works this summer and expand on the project through exhibition in the future.
Those interested in purchasing or keeping up with my work can visit my Instagram or Facebook.”
Q. Any closing words or comments about the show? About this upcoming summer?
“It is an honour and a privilege to be in the company and direction of these incredible seasoned artists. These women have welcomed me with great openness, kindness, and candor. Being a part of this show has been a fantastic learning experience for all of us in so many ways. It is our hope that through seeing this show the audience can learn something as well.”
