by Kelly Rogge
Kansas City Kansas Community College is holding a one-night only benefit reading of Eve Ensler’s award-winning play “The Vagina Monologues” in time for the Valentine’s Day holiday.
Each year, Ensler allows colleges and universities throughout the world to produce the play for free as a way to raise funds and bring awareness to ending violence against women. She refers to this as “Women Against Violence Day.”
The production is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, at the KCKCC Performing Arts Center, 7250 State Ave. Admission is $5 per person and tickets can be purchased at the door. All proceeds will be donated to Safe Haven, a domestic violence shelter in Parkville, Mo.
The play will feature Sharell Hall, Gina Varriano, Christal Williams, Jozzi Rainey, Ashley McClain, Skyla Shaw, Shante Gray and Sparkle Jones.
“The Vagina Monologues” was originally an off-Broadway production created in the mid-1990s. It is based off Ensler’s interviews with more than 200 women and talks about a women’s strength and sexuality. The play continues to give a voice to the experiences and feelings women do not generally expose in public and starts the more important conversation of ending violence against women and girls throughout the world.
In the beginning, Ensler performed all of the monologues herself. However, after she left the play, it continued with three celebrity monologists. Other performances of the play have included a different actress for each monologue. In 1998, Ensler along with Willa Shalit created V-Day.
Last year, there were more than 5,800 V-Day benefits raising more than $5 million through performances of the “Vagina Monologues” and readings of “A Memory, A Monologue and A Rant and a Prayer,” among other pieces.
KCKCC’s performance of “The Vagina Monologues” is part of V-Day’s One Billion Rising for Justice Campaign, which is a global call for women survivors of violence to gather in safe places where they can find justice. This includes courthouses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings and other sites where women can feel safe.
To learn more about V Day Kansas City Kansas Community College call 913-288-7106 or email the organization at [email protected]. To learn more about V Day and its campaigns visit www.vday.org.
Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor at KCKCC.