Students will help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the international V-Day movement with two performances of “The Vagina Monologues” Friday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. in the Reamer Campus Center Auditorium.
The performances are open to the public, with tickets $5 in advance and $7 at the door.
Following the Saturday performance, Golub House will sponsor a reception at 4 p.m. with a lecture by Emily Trotter, case manager at Family of Woodstock domestic violence shelter, and sister of cast member Genevieve St. Hilaire ’10.
V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls, has raised more than $50 million through benefit productions of playwright Eve Ensler’s award-winning play—a perfect fit for the Women’s Union club, which raises awareness of women’s issues and revived the campus production six years ago.
“The play draws a mixed crowd and is meant to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek,” said Kaitlin Canty ’08, co-producer, who returns for her third season in the play. “But we also address serious issues and things about the female anatomy that aren’t typically talked about.”
Students pull together the 90-minute production in five weeks with only two rehearsals. V-Day guidelines dictate the number of performances allowed, and prohibit memorizing the script in an effort to recruit activists to the production instead of theatrical performers.
Director Keegan Peters ’08, a Theater and Philosophy major, is the only student with formal acting training. Meagan Keenan ’09 is co-producing with Canty and also serves as this year’s organizer. All three women are also acting in the production.
The remaining members of the cast include: Christina M. Cerqueira ’10, Deanna A. Cox ’10, Elizabeth C. Culp ’10, Rachel R. Curtis ’08, Colleen M. Easton ’09, Katherine Friedman ’10, Dana R. Goldsmith ’10, Ewodaghe Harrell ’10, Genevieve St. Hilaire ’10, Eyleen L. Iraola ’11, Emma S. Labrot ’09, Jamie B. Luguri ’10, Victoria A. Mathieu ’11, Tehtena B. Tenaw ’09, Aria D. Walfrand ’11 and Samantha L. Zayas ’10.
Tickets will be on sale, along with hand-made chocolate lollipops, domestic violence awareness bracelets and T-shirts, from Monday, Feb. 11 through Friday, Feb. 15 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in Reamer. On Valentine’s Day, students can use their declining balances to make a donation in $5 increments.
The play is sponsored by the Women’s Union, Union’s Women’s Commission and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. Ninety-percent of proceeds from the show and merchandise sales will benefit the Schenectady YWCA Domestic Violence Shelter. The remaining 10 percent is donated to the national V-Day chapter’s charity of choice this year: women in New Orleans affected by the hurricanes.
For more information, visit http://www.vday.org.