`Vagina Monologues' funny, thought-provoking.

Byline: Theater review by Dorothy Velasco For The Register-Guard

THERE WAS a New Yorker cartoon a while ago in which a man tries to hit on a woman in a bar. He asks, "Would it help if I told you I was deeply moved by `The Vagina Monologues?' '

Men from Eugene and Springfield can join crowds of women seeing "The Vagina Monologues," during a brief run at the Soreng Theatre, in one of its official touring productions. The show, featuring New York-based professional actors Geneva Carr and Lisa Tharps and local radio announcer Valerie Steele, really is deeply moving, frequently humorous and sometimes just pleasantly silly.

Eve Ensler wrote "The Vagina Monologues" as a one-woman show in 1996 after she interviewed 200 women. Now it is more often performed by several women. Ensler asked such unexpected questions as, "If your vagina could talk, what would it say?" (The most common answer was, "Slow down.") She also elicited complete life stories and worldviews from the viewpoint (so to speak) of the vagina.

Ensler wrote and performed the show for daring but sensible reasons. She wanted people, both men and women, to be able to talk about an essential body part - the part we all pass through at birth - without shame and without making it a dark and dirty mystery.

In addition to bringing the word out into the light, and along with it a more healthful view of women's sexuality, the play has raised funds for the V-Day Fund, which supports an international movement to end violence toward women.

The play is unabashedly political, and Texas takes its hits as one of several states where it is illegal to sell a vibrator. In the Lone Star state, the penalty is as much as a year in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Tidbits like that are eye-openers, but the longer monologues have the most to offer. A 72-year-old woman talks about how dark and dank it is "down there," like a cellar you don't want to visit. A poor teen-ager, abused as a child, talks about discovering sexual glory with a 24-year-old secretary. She admits that her education at the hands of the older woman was not PC, but it redeemed her. Both of those roles are played by Tharps, who has the power to change instantly from sweetness to raging fury.

The most moving monologue, beautifully performed by Carr, tells the story of a Bosnian Muslim woman who was repeatedly raped. The story, briefly and artfully told, is heartbreaking.

To lighten the load near the end of the evening, Carr was hilarious in her rendition of a whole catalog of sexual moans. (The WASP moan is mouth open in surprise, but no sound.)

Steele, the local performer, has less to do than the others, but she held her own with a smart-mouth style that suited her material. She was full of funny, tough-talking rancor in a monologue called "My Vagina Is Angry."

"The Vagina Monologues" is directed by Joe Mantello, a New York director and actor. The setting is simple: three stools, three end tables, three red cups and a red carpet. The women wear red tops and black pants. The performances are so engrossing you hardly notice that the actors never leave their stools.

In a few more years, the show will probably seem dated, and that's a good thing. No one would be more delighted than Ensler if society could progress so much that a play like this is no longer needed.

Dorothy Velasco of Springfield reviews theater for The Register-Guard.

THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES

WHEN: 8 p.m. today, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Soreng Theatre, Hult Center, Seventh and Willamette streets

HOW MUCH: $35 to $40 through the Hult Center box office, 682-5000