Vagina
Monologues shown at CSULB
By
Sonia Gonzales
Daily Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
During the course of the weekend, the Cal State Long Beach theatre department
presented “The Vagina Monologues” at the Studio Theatre. It was
sponsored primarily by the theatre department with the help of the Women’s
Resource Center and other campus organizations.
It was performed in accordance with V-Day, a movement to stop violence against
women and girls, and its college campaigns. The college campaigns are meant
to educate everyone about women’s issues as well as raise funds for local
charities including Long Beach Women’s Shelter, Su Casa Family Crisis
and Support Center, CSULB Women’s Resource Center, CSULB Gay Lesbian
Bisexual Transgender Resource Center, Sexual Assault Crisis Agency and the
Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking.
According to the V-Day Web site, it all began to develop as Eve Ensler, author
of the “The Vagina Monologues,” toured with her play. After hearing
of the numerous violent acts committed against women, Ensler and a group from
New York City founded the day. The day would be the voice which “demands
that the violence must end” as well as “revitalize the spirit of
existing anti-violence organizations,” according to the V-Day Web site.
Violence against women is a global issue that involves everything from domestic
violence to sexual enslavement.
“Whether we are male or female, it is our obligation to help each other
and we have to see this as a very realistic topic,” said producer and organizer
of this year’s performance Jeremy Ancalade.
These issues affect all women, which is why the play includes issues from the
United States, Israel, Palestine, Africa and Juarez, Mexico. For that reason,
this project is huge every year.
“At times it’s been overwhelming, but you just step back and realize
why you’re doing it,” Ancalade said.
He said everyone involved wanted people to recognize “dangers are real.
It is up to us to make a difference.”
WRC Assistant Director Lynne Coenen said, “It is very easy to think you’re
the only one who thinks this way.”
Hearing these issues in such an open forum, Coenen said, leaves individuals
feeling empowered. She said women walk away thinking, “I can’t
imagine not being a woman.”
The women performing this play shared that sentiment.
“You always have this feeling of euphoria when performing, but this is
a celebration of women and cause,” said Rebecca Patrick, a cast member
of CSULB’s performance of “The Vagina Monologues.”
“It’s a way to tell people about who I am. It’s not about shock.
It’s being performed to make a difference.” director SuzAnne Bradaric.
There was a need for this show to be performed, according to Katie Merrill,
another performer at CSULB. She said the purpose of the show was awareness
and sometimes “if you’re not forced to think about something, you
won’t.”
On a personal level, Merrill said this show was “about the women who
told their story” and how it became “our story.”
Noo Ryi On, who performed in the play, said she would like the audience to
be comfortable with the word. “It’s nature, not taboo.”
When it comes to the show, Ancalade said he would like the audience to see “there
is beauty within everything and everyone.”
Ultimately, Bradaric said, “What I didn’t get was sleep, what I
did get was everything else.”
The audience shares this sentiment. “I thought it was very powerful in
that it opens up minds to see women as more than just powerless people. It
makes you think about yourself and who you are in relation to you ‘womanhood.’” CSULB
student Carla Hernandez said.
|
