V-Day is coming a lot sooner than you might expect.
On February 28, the Golden Women’s Resource Centre hosts the Vagina Monologues at the Civic Centre, as performed by courageous women from the community.
“It’s local women. We put a call out on Facebook for local women who were willing to perform them,” said GWRC executive director Jill Holland. “I was impressed by the creative women who are willing to step up and perform.”
The play series, written by Eve Ensler, gathers the stories of women over the decades, and compiles them into compelling monologues that will likely take the audience from laughing in stitches to cringing in discomfort.
The Vagina Monologues originally premiered in 1996, and have been faced with a myriad of criticism and support from across the U.S. over the years.
“The proceeds have to go to local women’s centres or the proceeds must be used on local programs to help end violence against women and girls. To get the rights to the show you have to do that,” Holland explained. “The women of Field have been performing the monologues over the years… The proceeds have been going to the Golden Women’s Resource Centre. They have been volunteering their efforts over the years.”
V-Day is a non profit that allows communities to perform the Vagina Monologues, so long as the profits are put back into the community, generally benefiting crisis centres, shelters for women, and similar resources centres for women and girls experiencing violence.
“It’s a United Nations statistic that one out of every three women in the world will personally experience physical sexual violence in their lifetime,” Holland said.
V-Day events take place worldwide each year from the beginning of February to the end of April.
The V-Day organization encourages performances to include a diverse group of actors, with a minimum of five performers.
Those performers can then choose which monologues they would like to perform.
Men in Golden are also encouraged to attend. Sometimes, men have less of a knowledge of the magnitude about violence against women, Holland said, adding that the men in Golden’s community are always incredibly supportive of the GWRC through fundraising events like the Starlight Soiree.
“It’s an evening of fun and support for the women who are brave enough to perform, and support for the women’s centre, and a way to get a little more educated and help change people’s attitudes,” Holland said.
It has been nearly a decade since the Vagina Monologues were performed in Golden, and the last time it was hosted in town, it had great attendance. People are encouraged to get their tickets early from the Golden Women’s Resource Centre or from Moon River Gallery.
Doors open at 7 p.m. at the Golden Civic Centre, and the performance begins at 7:30 p.m.
