Bitchin' ain't easy in Monolog Cabin


By Kylee Dawson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday, November 4, 2004

If a white trash-themed poetry reading wasn't politically incorrect enough for Tucson audiences, Monolog Cabin's latest revue will probably at least get ladies' panties in a twist.

With an all-woman cast of six, the comedy group's latest show is inappropriately titled, "Bitch, Bitch, Bitch," aka "Live Girls, Girls, Girls!" for the periodicals that won't print "bitch" under any circumstances.

"The title was kinda to jazz it up a bit," said Charlotte Lowe/Bailey, co-producer and performer of "Bitch."

"We should have called it the Vagina Monologues."

If you go...

  • Monolog Cabin
    Saturday, Nov. 20
    7 p.m.
    Club Congress,
    311 E. Congress St.
    All ages
    $5
    For more information call 622-8848

In addition to Lowe/Bailey, Monolog Cabin veterans include her daughter Faitha Lowe-Bailey, and Margo Taylor, who've performed in all of the groups' previous shows.

Monolog Cabin virgins include San Francisco-based comedienne Sara Regezi, local actress and award-winning playwright Silviana Wood and award-winning writer and poet Karen Brennan.

The fact that all of the performers in "Bitch" are women is just a coincidence, Lowe/Bailey said. The title came afterward.

"We wanted to interpret it for the audience before the audience or the media interpreted it for us," she said. "It's not a particularly womanly show, whatever that is."

The monologues, which are all in first person, provide the women a forum to entertain, to enlighten, and, of course, to "bitch."

"Mine is a warmup piece on the cautionary list of things that are not funny," Lowe/Bailey said. "The list could go on and on."

Faitha Lowe-Bailey got the idea for her own monologue after talking to her friend about an ad they'd seen about getting $20,000 for ovarian eggs.

"No one would probably want our eggs," Faitha said. "We couldn't sell them because we're not tall enough, we're not blonde, we're not even white enough."

Having performed in every show with her mother, Faitha said she has not developed - pardon the pun - cabin fever.

"We're creepy close," Faitha said about her mother. "So it ain't no thang."

On Saturday nights, Margo Taylor retells frightfully candid stories of love and lust when on stage.

By day, "she's a very raucous middle school teacher," Lowe/Bailey said.

Taylor's monologue, "The Single Life," is about what Lowe/Bailey describes as Taylor's "long history as a fag hag."

"The fag hag episode refers to a time in many women's life when they spend a lot of time hanging out with gay men because they've given up on Mr. Right," Taylor said. "I've been looking for Mr. Right for the past 15 years. He doesn't show up so I go to the gay bars."

Before becoming a homeroom and math teacher, Taylor was a humor columnist for the Tucson Weekly, but wrote under the pseudonym "Bea Lamé."

Silviana Wood, whom Steve Barancik, co-producer of the show, describes as "a big, big figure in the Spanish arts community," has developed her monologue from a semi-autobiographical book she is currently writing.

Set at a chapel in Sonora, Wood appeals to St. Frances for forgiveness of her minor sins, like cheating at crossword puzzles, while avoiding her "big sin."

Only the pure of heart can lift the St. Frances' head once they've repented, but Wood admits, "When I lifted the head, it wasn't even heavy."

Sara Regezi's monologue is about body augmentation, specifically women with "tiny boobs," Lowe/Bailey said.

"Having small breasts is something that's been bugging me in our culture," Regezi said.

As a comedienne, Regezi thinks humor is a great way to deal with topics about body image, particularly in regards to the whole "Girls Gone Wild" craze.

Regezi also admits that she's thought of getting breast implants in the past, but most likely won't go through with it.

Karen Brennan, a professor of English from the University of Utah, is performing a monologue about people who get veneers on their teeth.

"I thought, it's interesting the way people run around doing self-improvement things," she said. "Myself included."

While on sabbatical to write her latest book, "The Garden in Which I Walk," Brennan said performing with Monolog Cabin is a bit different for her since she usually gives readings when promoting her books.

"I like the whole idea of it, the spirit of it, and I think it's great for the community," she said.

Barancik will "auction off" the women before they perform, but Charlotte Lowe/Bailey promises it won't be too degrading.

"I worried because of the meat market angle to it, but it was very, very funny," she said.

She also promises both sexes are more than welcome to attend "Bitch, Bitch, Bitch!"

"I think it's always ridiculous to ghettoize oneself," Lowe/Bailey said. "It adds to the fun to have both men and women."