Instead of distributing cards and candy hearts, the University of Idaho Women’s Center plans to celebrate Valentine’s Day with its fourth annual production of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues.”
“(It) is more than a play,” said Heather Gasser, director of the UI Women’s Center. “It focuses on the need to end gender-based violence.”
“The Vagina Monologues” is comprised of several monologues derived from interviews with various women. The Women’s Center invited women to audition late last semester, and actors spent winter break memorizing lines.
Once the cast and crew were finalized, Gasser held a “Vagina Warriors” workshop to familiarize participants with their roles. Actors learned to convey messages about gender inequality to spectators, and share their own beliefs.
The Women’s Center holds numerous events to promote the show. Eve Ensler creates a new spotlight monologue each year — an educational piece about women in various areas. This year, it focuses on women in Democratic Congo, post-earthquake Haiti and post-hurricane New Orleans. As part of its brown bag series, the center will hold a 45-minute teach-in for a spotlight monologue.
“We aim to educate students on current issues and what the audience should expect to see,” Gasser said.
Some of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to women in those areas.
In addition to the spotlight monologue, the center advertises through an art show at Sisters’ Brew Coffee House in downtown Moscow. Student artists create art based on their interpretation of what a woman means to them. The show will be held Tuesday, Jan. 31.
“We just want to make a specific difference in the community and on campus,” Gasser said.
This year’s production of “Vagina Monologues” has a cast of about 20 members ranging from undergraduate students to sorority housemothers.
Marguerite Medina, junior at UI, will participate in the production for the second year in a row.
“Once you become a part of (“The Vagina Monologues”), it’s pretty difficult to stop participating,” Medina said. “The logistics of this play are extremely important. The director, producers, and actors are all women. Men can only be a part of the stage crew which makes the show empowering.”
It is not a classical play, according to Medina.
The show runs at 7 p.m. Feb. 2, 3 and 4 at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre. Tickets cost $10 in advance and $15 at the door. This year’s proceeds will benefit the Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse, a group dedicated to ending sexual and domestic violence on the Palouse.