Speaking of the 'Unspeakable'
MANILA, Philippines - Women talk about everything: the joys, inspirations and even frustrations in their everyday lives. But it is rare that underarm issues are being discussed. The underarm, according to a survey, is one of the body parts that Filipinas are unhappiest about.
Dove Deodorant teamed up with Upstart Productions to present Unspeakably Yours: The Underarm Monologues at Teatrino in Greenhills recently. The idea of starting a conversation about one of the least talked about body parts stemmed out – what if your underarms could talk? What would it say to you and what would you say back?
“We want women to realize that it is okay to talk about and face their underarm issues with other women,” says Cindy Melocoton, marketing director of Unilever. “And we found a perfect platform for sharing these stories in a fun and engaging way: the theatre.”
Inspired by stories from real women, this original outspoken comedy explores views on an intimate part of the body that females love to hate and hate to love. Why do a show about something that no one likes to talk about? “Precisely because no one likes to talk about it,” explains Joel Trinidad, the show’s co-writer and producer.
Trinidad and his creative team have woven real stories from real women into a truly entertaining episodic play. “I thoroughly enjoyed creating the script, especially as more and more responses were coming in,” he states. “The descriptions and underarm analogies that we got were hilarious — although they did reveal some frustrations and insecurities among women. I never knew women went through such trouble just for the upkeep of the underarms.”
Through a combination of true-to-life anecdotes, observations and trivia, Unspeakably Yours strives to prove, with disarming honesty and humor, that a woman’s underarms can be her worst enemy or her best friend.
Through the play, Dove Deodorant is urging women to embrace and love their underarms, by first being comfortable enough to talk about them, and taking the time to care for and look after them. Espousing love for an otherwise unpopular body part perfectly affirms the Dove’s long-time celebration of real women and our view of beauty.
Unspeakably Yours: The Underarm Monologues is written by theater veterans Joel Trinidad and Cathy Azanza-Dy. Starring Caisa Borromeo, Mayen Bustamante-Cadd and Angela Padilla. Directed by Cathy Azanza-Dy and Jenny Jamora.
