The Most Massive Woman WinsThe Act of Empowering Women Through Theatre

For my senior project production, I performed as Carly in a stand-alone production of The Most Massive Woman Wins, by Madeleine George. I shared this project with director Lauren Busteed and actor Maria Albanese. Carly is one of four women who meet in the waiting room of a liposuction clinic, each having come to the conclusion that cosmetic surgery is the only solution to their body image insecurities. Each character reveals to the audience the life experiences that have led them to this very moment, including a monologue containing the core reason for their visit. For Carly, the discovery that her daughter has followed in her footsteps and has become pregnant at sixteen solidifies her belief that she is a failure. After the production, I felt inspired to continue on a personal journey of learning how to love and accept my true self. This sense of empowerment led to my interest in learning about other plays which explored the controversial subject matter pertaining to women and their experiences. Playwrights often boldly address controversial subject matter; topics that American culture shuns, or dare not speak about publicly. During the 1990s, female-centered plays emerged to generate empowerment and unity between women and created a more honest examination of the female experience. These works allowed the theater to become a platform of discussion about the impermissible subject matter pertaining to women and their bodies and initiated a call for audiences to actively advocate for social change.