University News

The Vagina Monologues Returns to WIU

February 6, 2017

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MACOMB, IL - Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" (TVM) will be performed by a cast of 23 students, faculty, staff and community members on Western Illinois University's Macomb campus Friday-Sunday, Feb. 10-12 as part of the V-Day 2017 campaign.

V-Day is a global activist movement to stop violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Ensler's award winning play and other artistic works. The Friday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, Feb. 11 performances begin at 7 p.m. in the Multicultural Center first floor Multipurpose/Activity Room. Sunday's performance begins at 2 p.m. at the same location.
Friday evening's performance will be preceded by a cocktail hour at 6 p.m. There will be a cash bar and free appetizers.

Advance tickets are $5 for students and $7 for non-students and are on sale in the Women's Center, suite 209, in the Multicultural Center. Tickets may also be purchased from members of the cast and crew.

If the performances do not sell out in advance, admission at the door will be $8 for students and $10 for non-students.

Doors will open 30 minutes prior to the start of Saturday and Sunday's performances, and a resource table fair will provide informational materials about support services for victims, survivors and anyone interested in helping prevent and end sexual and interpersonal violence. All proceeds from the V-Day 2017 event will benefit WIRC-CAA Victim Services.

The WIU V-Day campaign is sponsored by the Women's Center, and this is the 16th year one of Eve Ensler's plays has been performed at Western.

Women's Center graduate assistant and Feminist Action Alliance graduate adviser Emily Henkelman, who is co-producing this year's show, said she is excited to be involved with V-Day and "The Vagina Monologues" at WIU.

"We are thrilled to bring back the Vagina Monologues this year," she said. "The Women's Center has produced another play by Eve Ensler for the past two years, so it's fun to be able to introduce this show to a new audience. The cast is larger than it has been in a few years, so we're looking forward to putting our own spin on things this year with an incredibly diverse and outstanding cast. The show is powerful, funny and moving. It has something for everyone. We're confident it will be an empowering experience for the cast, crew and audience members."

Laura Hoske, a graduate student in the theatre program's directing emphasis, will serve as the director for this year's play. She has been involved in WIU's V-Day productions for the past three years and is excited to be directing again this year.

"The 2017 V-Day Campaign marks the 19th year that this worldwide movement has enabled thousands of activists to perform Eve Ensler's V-Day Productions to empower, educate and fundraise to end violence against women and girls while embracing a vision of equality for all," she said. "In this turbulent time, join us as we perform Vagina Monologues; join us as we raise our voices, our minds and our hearts together to call for the end to violence and inequality."

According to the V-Day web site, V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler's award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. The V-Day movement has raised over $120 million; educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it; crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns; reopened shelters; and funded over 13,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq.

V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements and awards and is, one of the Top-Rated organizations on both Charity Navigator and Guidestar. V-Day's most recent global campaign, ONE BILLION RISING, galvanized over one billion women and men on a global day of action towards ending violence against women and girls.

For more information about the V-Day Worldwide Campaign, visit vday.org or youtube.com/watch?v=gl2AO-7Vlzk.

For more information about local V-Day activities, visit wiu.edu/wc, facebook.com/WIUWomensCenter or contact the Women's Center at (309) 298-2242 or at womenscenter@wiu.edu.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing