Vagina Monologues Plays Charleston
Posted Courtesy of The Post and Courier (http://www.charleston.net)
BY DOTTIE ASHLEY
Of The Post and Courier Staff
The Obie Award-winning “The Vagina Monologues” is being staged this week on 550 college campuses around the country as part of V-Day, which stands for “Until the Violence Stops,” a worldwide movement to stop sexual violence against women and girls, and to proclaim Valentine’s Day as the day to demand the end of abuse of women.
Colleges are able to produce the play because the playwright allows them to stage it without paying royalties. The play remains a huge hit off-Broadway at the West Side Theatre on West 43rd Street, now starring Barbara Barrie, Stefanie Powers and Lillias White.
Sponsored by the College of Charleston’s women’s studies and the Department of Theatre, the play consists of interviews the playwright did with women from all walks of life. It will take place in three performances at the Physicians Auditorium on the college campus. It will be directed by Susan Kattwinkel, assistant professor in the college’s theater department.
Jeri Cabot, director of women’s studies, says, “Susan Kattwinkel had seen the play and thought it would be good to do it here. Also, one of our history professors had been to a conference on popular culture, and this play was the subject of numerous discussions.”
The proceeds from the play, which features 13 actresses, 12 of whom are students at the college, will benefit People Against Rape, and From Darkness to Light, a group which combats incest and sexual abuse of children.
My Sister’s House, a shelter for battered women, has urned down the offer of a donation from proceeds from the play’s ticket sales. Some members of the board felt the play’s title and theme were not appropriate.
Elmire Raven, in her 13th year as executive director of My Sister’s House, says of the board’s decision: “Charleston is a rather conservative place, and some members of the board objected to our receiving the funding from the play. I prefer not to give the exact reason they gave for this. However, we appreciate being considered, and we hope that if such a fund-raiser is held next year that we will be considered for receiving some funding.”
Cabot says she had no problem with officials at the college approving the production of “The Vagina Monologues,” and felt it was especially appropriate for a project for women’s studies.
“I believe one of the purposes of the play is to show women as sexual beings and to make everyone, men and women, more comfortable talking about the sexuality of women,” says Cabot. “Women are taught to be inhibited about talking about our sexual desires from an early age, and therefore many girls and women don’t really understand themselves as sexual beings.”
Cabot says she believes the play is a step toward wiping out violence against women by harnessing a vocabulary of sexuality.
Kattwinkel says of her decision to direct the work: “People will hear truths they have not heard before said in public, and this is a good thing. But, actually, I would rate it PG-13.”
The director, who saw the play in Atlanta, adds that the dialogue contains some very funny moments and is based on interviews with real women.
“The play also really moved men with its incredible variety,” says Kattwinkel. “The depth and poignancy of a young woman who has been raped is incredible, and it also shows how women’s bodies have been denigrated.”
The first V-Day was held in 1998 with an off-Broadway production of the play, starring Glenn Close, Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, Lily Tomlin and Winona Ryder. Those in the cast are College of Charleston assistant professor Joy Vandervort Cobb, and college students Kim Carson, Tricia Eckert, Kelly Flaherty, Natalie Foertch, Amanda Grove, Rachel Isley, Corinne LaBonte, Sharon Litzky, Ashandra McConnell, Gillian Mulligan, Julie Poteet and Graeme Seabrook.
In addition to the college, NOW, Skirt magazine, Cat’s Music and Savory Market are sponsoring the play.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and at 3 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $12 for the general public and $8 for College of Charleston students. A reception and silent art auction will follow the Sunday afternoon performance.
Tickets are available at the door or at the women’s studies office at the corner of George and Glebe streets and at all Cat’s Music stores. For more information, call 953-5522.
|
