by John J. King. @jrexplays.
Beaverton, OR – While one might assume the Venn Diagram of feminist theatre aficionados and OnlyFans subscribers barely overlaps, local theatre group The Beaverton Players found the opposite to be true after unintentionally raising $1,347,256 with their production of The Vagina Monologues streamed exclusively on the subscription social media site, the group confirmed.
“We’ve struggled through the lockdown, like any arts group,” said Artistic Director Tammy Sparks. “After our ‘pay what you want’ Zoom production of Streetcar didn’t pick up many passengers, we needed a hit, so I explored all our options. Then I saw my son was visiting OnlyFans a ton. He tells me that’s the big new social media these days, so we gave it a whirl!”
The online show – hosted exclusively on the community theater’s ‘BeaverPlays’ account – features two dozen short videos of actresses performing monologues from the acclaimed collection, each of which costs between $1 - $75. The extended-by-popular-demand run has brought unprecedented revenues, but not all viewers were immediately fans.
“I paid to see talking vaginas, not women,” says one viewer, who asked to be known only by his screenname, "mcSlurp_69". “However, the performances in ‘I was Twelve, My Mother Slapped Me’ were so brave. I hadda share that one with my daughter and she - we haven’t bonded like that since she was a little girl,” he added while choking up.
The virtual production has set attendance records for the theatre, with one breakout star in particular: Aiden Fox, a local CPA, performing “Because He Liked to Look At It” while eating a ripe peach. The video has over 100,000 views so far. Fox was surprised by the attention.
“I’m always telling jokes and things at office parties, but this is my first stage experience,” she says. “Tons of guys have DM'd me, all praising how vulnerable and real my performance was, saying they showed the performance to their wives and mentioning how they've bought printed copies of the play to uplift and encourage their feminine side."
Tammy is already looking ahead to the next show, planning to bring back a Beaverton Players favorite to satisfy the cravings of their new BeaverPlays followers: Almost, Maine, starring Kroger’s deli manager Clint Spiegel.