'The Vagina Monologues' provides awareness in Augusta
Bianca Cain
Issue date: 1/27/09 Section: Arts & Life
Vaginas will be the feature of a February production at the Maxwell Theatre. The joint production by Augusta State University and the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) will also serve as a fundraiser for violence against women.
"The Vagina Monologues," written by Eve Ensler, was chosen by Shelly Ford, technical director of theater at Augusta State, because not only did it allow for a much larger number of theater majors to participate than other performances, but also because of it's activist and educational components, according to Ford.
"Eve Ensler in her brilliance as an artist and an activist wrote the original 'Vagina Monologues' in 1998," Ford explained. "She wrote these monologues, and at whatever point, she was inspired to just give them over. As a playwright, she could have made her fortune a million times over with this, but from the beginning, she said, 'No, I'm going to give the money to whoever wants to do it, the only thing being that they have to give the money back.'"
The "Monologues" are part of a global V-Day campaign, whose mission is to fight to stop violence against women and girls worldwide. The "V" in V-Day actually stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.
Every year in February, the campaign begins in 120 different countries, and as of it's 10th anniversary in 2007, the campaign had raised $60 million, according to the V-Day Web site.
Ten percent of the proceeds from each production go back to V-Day, but 90 percent stay in the community. In the case of the Maxwell Theatre production, 90 percent will go to the Rape Crisis Center and Safe Homes, both in Augusta.
The monologues, which will be read during the performance, are based on interviews Ensler did in the 1990s with more than 200 women across the country. The subjects of the monologues range, but all have one supreme thing in common - vaginas. Some of the topics include menstruation, birth and sexual experiences. Then others deal with the actual violence, like rape, incest, female genital mutilation and sexual slavery.
"The Vagina Monologues," written by Eve Ensler, was chosen by Shelly Ford, technical director of theater at Augusta State, because not only did it allow for a much larger number of theater majors to participate than other performances, but also because of it's activist and educational components, according to Ford.
"Eve Ensler in her brilliance as an artist and an activist wrote the original 'Vagina Monologues' in 1998," Ford explained. "She wrote these monologues, and at whatever point, she was inspired to just give them over. As a playwright, she could have made her fortune a million times over with this, but from the beginning, she said, 'No, I'm going to give the money to whoever wants to do it, the only thing being that they have to give the money back.'"
The "Monologues" are part of a global V-Day campaign, whose mission is to fight to stop violence against women and girls worldwide. The "V" in V-Day actually stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.
Every year in February, the campaign begins in 120 different countries, and as of it's 10th anniversary in 2007, the campaign had raised $60 million, according to the V-Day Web site.
Ten percent of the proceeds from each production go back to V-Day, but 90 percent stay in the community. In the case of the Maxwell Theatre production, 90 percent will go to the Rape Crisis Center and Safe Homes, both in Augusta.
The monologues, which will be read during the performance, are based on interviews Ensler did in the 1990s with more than 200 women across the country. The subjects of the monologues range, but all have one supreme thing in common - vaginas. Some of the topics include menstruation, birth and sexual experiences. Then others deal with the actual violence, like rape, incest, female genital mutilation and sexual slavery.
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