Volume CXXXIII, Number 17 February 22, 2002 f

Vagina Monologues light up stage
KERRY ELSON
STAFF WRITER

As a part of a global movement to prevent violence against women, Bowdoin College presents Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues tonight and tomorrow night in the Kresge Auditorium to celebrate V-Day. Students Barbara Condliffe '04 and Rebecca Geehr '03 direct a cast of Bowdoin women in the production.

Written by playwright and activist Eve Ensler, the Obie-Award winning Vagina Monologues is a compilation of over 200 interviews Ensler conducted with women about their sexuality. Actors portray a diverse group of women, from a Long Island antiques dealer to a Bosnian refugee.

Bowdoin's presentation of the show is one of hundreds of productions occurring at colleges and universities around the world as a part of V-Day's College Campaign, which aims to empower future leaders. All Campaign productions must be non-commercial and primarily student-run, student-directed, and student-performed. All productions must donate money raised to local women's organizations. Since 1998, the College Campaign has raised one million dollars for organizations devoted to preventing violence against women and girls.

Condliffe wanted to bring the Monologues to Bowdoin in order to raise awareness about violence against women and girls. "I felt like it was really something that needed to be done at Bowdoin. It's...acting as a catalyst for discussion and [as] a catalyst for change; it's really about raising awareness," she said.

She also stresses that the Monologues production is only a part of the V-Day movement that will take place for the duration of the semester, "What people see on stage is only a part...of what we'll be trying to do all year and what we'll try to continue on campus."

Condliffe further noted that the V-Day movement is not against men. Rather, she says, women need the support of their fathers, brothers, boyfriends, and husbands in order to create safe spaces for women. "[V-Day] is not about demonizing men," she says. "We love men. But this time it's just about women."

Cast member Desneige Hallbert says that rehearsing for the Monologues has been a unique and liberating experience. While at first she was uncomfortable with her monologue, in which she portrays a sex worker, she notes that she and the rest of the cast became more comfortable speaking openly about women's sexuality once rehearsals began. Performing in this piece is an opportunity, she realizes, to liberate not only herself but also her audience. She says, "[My piece] makes the audience more comfortable talking about [women's sexuality]. It pushes [the audience] all the way to the edge."

Tickets, available at the Smith Union Information Desk, are $5 for students and $7 for the public. Ninety percent of proceeds from the show will benefit the Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine (SASSMM) while the other ten percent will go towards the Revolutionary Association of Women in Afghanistan (RAWA).

The performance will be tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium, VAC.