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The Vagina Monologues

Friday, April 2, 2010

For the past four years I have been involved in the VDay Movement (www.vday.org) to end the violence against women around the globe. I have performed in The Vagina Monologues several times and directed Any One Of Us: Words From Prison. I was also very fortunate to spend a whole afternoon with Eve Ensler, the playwright and founder of the movement, who is one of the strongest, most inspiring and world-changing people I know of! It was incredible!

So to keep up the tradition, I am performing again in The Vagina Monologues (See video below!). This year the New School will also be performing A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer. Please find all the details below and join my facebook-cause at: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/467718

I hope to see you there!

Until the violence STOPS!!!!

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For two weekends in April, join us as we celebrate V-Day 2010 and recognize Sexual Assault Awareness Month with the New School’s productions of The Vagina Monologues and A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer.

THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES:
Friday, April 2nd
Saturday, April 10th
7:30 pm, Tishman Auditorium
66 West 12th Street, Main Floor

Written by Eve Ensler, award-winning author, feminist activist, and founder/artistic director of V-Day, The Vagina Monologues is based on Ensler's interviews with more than 200 women. In 1998, Ensler launched V-Day, a global non-profit organization that has raised over $50 million for women’s anti-violence groups through benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues.

A MEMORY, A MONOLOGUE, A RANT AND A PRAYER
Saturday, April 3rd
Friday, April 9th
7:30 pm, Tishman Auditorium
66 West 12th Street, Main Floor

A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer is a groundbreaking collection of monologues by world-renowned authors and playwrights, including Edwidge Danticat, Maya Angelou, Dave Eggers, and many more, edited by Eve Ensler and Mollie Doyle. These diverse voices rise up in a collective roar to break open, expose, and examine the insidiousness of violence at all levels: brutality, neglect, a punch, and even a put-down.

TICKETS
Tickets are $7 with New School ID and $10 for the general public.

A special discount is available to the New School community: buy one ticket to The Vagina Monologues and one ticket to A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer for only $10!

In person purchases can be made at The New School Box Office at 66 West 12th Street, main floor.

BOX OFFICE HOURS:
Monday-Thursday 4:00 to 7:00 pm
Friday 3:00 to 6:00 pm

Reservations and inquiries can be made by emailing boxoffice@newschool.edu or calling 212.229.5488. The box office will be open throughout spring break.

Proceeds from these performances will benefit non-profit organizations working to end violence against women and girls. For more information, email vday@newschool.edu or call 212.229.5687.

Continent UnknownAntanas Mockus and the Colombian Elections

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 04/02/2010 - 21:03 #

This was a great window into what it's all about. I appreciate the work you put into this. Very well done!!---angelina h.

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 04/05/2010 - 14:12 #

Thank you Angelina! Very much appreciate your feedback and support!

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 04/09/2010 - 14:54 #

I certainly appreciate what the vagina monologues do in many respects, but it's also worth pointing out its limitations (possibilities for improvement?). In an interview, Delia D Aguilar had some interesting observations on the Vagina Monologues that are worth considering. She's a Marxist feminist from the Philippines, and teaches in the Women's Studies department over at University of Connecticut. (note that I transcribed the quote from a pdf, any errors are most likely my typos, and not the original's. Quote from 2002, http://www.ateneo.edu/kritikakultura/pdf/issue2/transcult.PDF "Issues of academic and artistic freedoms that have been raised in discussions here vis-a-vis the Monologues are of tremendous importance, as is the need to demystify and celebrate women's bodies. But the presentation that I saw the other night was very clearly class-bound and, worse for us colonials, reeking of imperial hubris. "What would your vagina wear?" The recommended apparel--Louis Vuitton boots and a matching bag, cashmere and Lolita Lempicka perfume, Birkin bag, etc.--is hardly within the reach of US white, working-class women who, by these standards, would be reduced to sporting vaginas au natural. so where does this put those of us, members of the non-elite, living in the "Third World?" the references to "saving" Afghan women and those poor benighted African "sisters" whose clitorises are cut up, labias infibulated, and who in all other ways are subordinated and repressed by their men, well, we've got to rescue them too! Who's the "we" here? VM is curiously devoid of social context, except when Bosnia and other such places are cited. More precisely, the context is merely implied and has to be unmasked, as I'm trying to do. As someone on this site remarked, VM has worldwide circulation. And why not? Who's to prevent the US from going anywhere these days? Moreover, VM also has liberal appeal as a fundraiser for "eliminating violence against women." But it's violence of an interpersonal sort, never institutional or systemic. It's men who are the problem. I don't know how much license is given local presenters to innovate and revise. But I must say that as it stands, "Vagina Monologues" is just one more conduit of cultural imperialism. With those Green Berets and Navy Seals already in Basilan, do we really need more of the same?"

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 04/22/2010 - 20:04 #

Thank you for this interesting expose on the Vagina Monologues. It's shown in Nigeria every year, thanks to KIND (www.kind.org), an NGO concerned about the rights of women. However, it has evolved a lot...adding to it some 'cultural' elements that resonate very much with the Nigerian audience. I saw it thrice (yes, I love it that much!)last year and wrote a review here: http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/ArtsandCulture/TheatreDance/539845... In 2010, it evolved again, with a male perspective called 'Tarzan Monologues' It was interesting hearing a 'male' perspective! You can read a review here: http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/ArtsandCulture/TheatreDance/554463... Across cultures and nations, the Vagina Monologues still speaks volumes. It has gone to make so much impact that will outlive the writer...the issues are universal...and change happens daily!

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A native of Germany, Laura has earned her BFA in Musical Theater, a Certificate in Screen Writing, a Certificate in 16mm Film Production, an MA in Media Studies, and an MA in International Affairs. She lives in New York City.

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