In the 21st century, it’s not too often one sees a show about a vaudeville circus act, but it’s even more rare for one to see a show about menstrual cycles. Viewers of “You Menstrual Me,” will have the opportunity to see both at the HopKins Black Box Theater.
The show discusses menstruation in the format of a circus, complete with personal narratives, an interview, a game and more.
“I pair [these] with traditional circus acts in order to re-frame both the circus act and the narrative,” director Emily Graves said. “I hope the combination makes something new and foregrounds the use of language surrounding menstruation.”
During her time as a student in the University’s communication studies graduate program, Graves wrote many of her papers on menstruation. A year ago, her friend suggested that she take some of the poems she wrote on the subject and transform them into a show — thus beginning “You Menstrual Me.”
Graves said the title of the show stemmed from the title of the series of poems.
“The placement of the word ‘menstrual’ between ‘you’ and ‘me’ performs the question about the way language works overall,” she said. “Does it link or separate?”
Rhetoric and performance studies Ph.D. student Evan Schares is one of the show’s six actors. He plays a menstrual ventriloquist — what the show refers to as a “mentriloquist” — as well as the host of a carnival-esque segment called “Guess Your Phase.”
“‘Guess Your Phase’ is meant to remind the room that those with the ability to menstruate are always at some phase of the cycle and that it is both specific and present,” Schares said.
Schares said he was drawn to the show because of the topic and the imaginative and inspired way in which it was told.
“Menstruation is still largely taboo, silenced or glossed over,” he said.
Schares said the show is unlike any other he’s ever worked on and that he was surprised by the physical aspect of it.
“The show is so much more physical than I could have expected,” he said. “I have a newfound respect for circus performers.”
This is Graves’s first time writing and directing a show. “It definitely has a coming of age feeling to it,” she said.
Graves said she hopes viewers of the show are able to leave knowing that periods are more than just blood.
“Periods are about self and community, [about] internal landscapes and thought-scapes and about shifting experiences of time,” Graves said. “I want to offer folks a glimpse of fluctuating experiences of self and community across the entire cycle, not just the menstrual part of the cycle.”
Performances take place April 19-22 at 7:30 p.m. and April 23 at 2:30 in the HopKins Black Box Theater in 137 Hodges Hall. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted.
