“You got to convince my vagina, seduce my vagina, engage my vagina’s trust. You can’t do that with a dry wad of f—— cotton,” said sophomore Nicole Zelniker in the monologue, “My Angry Vagina.”

Directed by sophomores Zelniker and Teresa Bedzigui, Guilford College students presented their rendition of “The Vagina Monologues” to a full house at Joseph M. Bryan Jr. Auditorium on Feb. 15.

Written by Eve Ensler, “The Vagina Monologues” originally contained 21 monologues, all stories about real women. The show was first performed at Off Broadway Westside Theater. It is now performed annually around the world, giving everyone a different experience. It is presented at Guilford each year with a new cast and new monologues.

Each monologue expresses female struggles and experiences with sex, love, rape, sexual harassment and domestic abuse.

Each monologue brings a new perspective to life.

“(The monologues) put a more realist perspective (towards the) experiences of women,” said sophomore Sara Pearson, who recited “The First Kiss”.

The crowd anxiously awaited the first performance, a hush lingering amongst them.

The performance began with what Bedzigui called, “the non-traditional way,” reciting one of her original poems titled, “Black Girl Fly.”

Each monologue made its own stance on the stage. Performance after performance everyone in the audience seemed affected by these anecdotes.

“Each monologue was hitting a little harder towards our emotions,” said junior Rebecca Van De Beek, who attended the performance.

For two monologues, the audience was completely silent: “Blueberry Hill,” recited by sophomore Juliet Smith, and the last act, “Celina,” recited by sophomore Elena Robles.

“We chose to do the Vagina Monologues because of the impact it has,” said Bedzigui. “The production of the monologues is a space for people to heal, and at the same time, it informs the ignorant and heals the broken.”

The production transformed the actresses and made them seem like they were the women in the monologues that were speaking to the audience.

“Every cast member became close and everyone worked very hard to be great,” said Bedzigui.

The monologues, beyond their original purpose, connect to Guilford’s core values.

“One of the core values is integrity,” said senior and attendee Moriah Shapiro. “This production showed integrity by having the cast expressing their true emotions and being devoted to the monologue. It takes true integrity by saying what you actually experienced and the emotions that convey those experiences.”

The Vagina Monologues captures and addresses moments in Guilford’s anti-sexual harassment campaign.

“Hearing stories that are unheard … empowering different voices, hidden with tragedy and how they behave towards their tragic experiences can make a difference to the audience’s perspectives by letting them know that each monologue (is a) real life experience,” said Robles. “So, it gives the audience a perspective through the different views of different women that have experienced, sexual harassment, rape, and abusive relationships, and that these sorts of things happen everywhere.”