Throughout the fall semester, the “Show Some Skin” production team will present videos of past shows followed by group discussions, according to team member and junior Geraldine Mukumbi. Videos of the first-ever production, entitled “The Race Monologues,” will kick off the series Wednesday in the Andrews Auditorium of Geddes Hall at 7:30 p.m. The 2013 production, “It’s Complicated,” will be shown and discussed Oct. 30, and Nov. 13 will feature the 2014 production, “Be Bold.”
Mukumbi said the performances originated from the desire to spark conversations about diversity on campus.
“A group of people came together and decided that there were some voices on campus that were not being heard,” she said.
“The Race Monologues” debuted in 2012 as a series of monologues based on anonymous submissions from the Notre Dame community, Mukumbi said. “It’s Complicated” broadened its scope to issues of identity. Mukumbi said the viewings of past shows will allow students who have not seen the original performances a chance to participate in important conversations.
“For a lot of students who come in, they don’t have an idea of how ‘Show Some Skin’ functions,” she said. “Our shows are very different each year, so we wanted to go back in the past and show some of the monologues that were very touching and give people ... that never got to see them a chance to watch them.
“And at the same time, we want to open it up to discussion because a lot of people don’t get to talk about the monologues after the show. So ‘Show Some Skin: Revisited’ will give people the opportunity to hear other people’s stories and then also talk about them, talk about why certain experiences happened to certain people and delve deeper into the stories.”
Mukumbi said the discussion panels after the viewings will include some of the actors who performed in the ‘Show Some Skin’ productions.
“We find that a lot of students have questions on the acting process itself, because that’s also part of the story, how different people connect with the monologues and how they grow from that experience as well,” she said.
The viewings will allow students to see the monologues that have generated the most conversation, Mukumbi said.
“After every show we have a survey that we pass out, and there’s always the monologue, every year, that everyone talks about,” she said. “We always have that type of monologue that resonates with everyone … Maybe [it is] because of the story, or how it’s written — there’s always a different reason why some monologues stand out.”
The Notre Dame community needs to continue conversations on the issues that the ‘Show Some Skin’ productions address, Mukumbi said.
“We want people to feel comfortable to talk about what they think about these issues. A lot of times, either people want to talk about it and they don’t have the space to do that, or they don’t want to talk about it and they don’t realize why it’s important,” she said.
“I’m an African international student, and I feel that sometimes people don’t realize that for some people, the ND experience isn’t as pleasant as it is for other types of students,” she said. “We need to have these conversations because there are some people who really don’t understand that that is an issue on campus.”
Mukumbi said she hopes all members of the community will feel welcome to watch the productions and, more importantly, to participate in the conversation.
“Everyone is welcome to all of these events,” she said. “They are not just for students, or minorities, or people who are interested in these issues. We really want this to be the type of event where everyone feels welcome. We just want to start the conversation and get it going, so that we can actually get working on how to fix some of these issues because we can’t fix them unless we talk about them.”
