Vagina Monologues at Th’YARC Feb. 17
Co-directed by mother-anddaughter team Shari Surette and Brittany Fevens, the Vagina Monologues will take the stage at Th’YARC Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m.
This will be the fourth performance of the show since it was first presented in 2004 to a sold-out crowd.
Fevens directed the third show in 2013, with assistance from her mother.
She says when she first saw the show, she loved it.
“It addresses so many different themes and topics relating to feminist issues in such a powerful way,” she said.
“I think it’s such an important show for both men and women to watch. The monologues are meant to be self-directed, which allows for so many different artistic perspectives in one show.”
The play is performed globally and has been rewritten several times by Eve Ensler, following interviews she conducted with 200 women about their views on sex, relationships and violence against women. Licensing is restricted to use by non-profit associations and a portion of the proceeds must be designated towards each year’s V-Day campaign.
The Vagina Monologues have historically been held as a celebration of V-Day, which is not a specific date, but rather a non-profit corporation that distributes funds to organizations and programs that work to stop violence against women and girls.
The Vagina Monologues is the cornerstone of the V-Day movement, whose participants stage benefit performances of the show and/or host other related events in their communities.
Such events take place worldwide each year between Feb. 1 and April 30, many on college campuses as well as other venues.
The V in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.
The first Yarmouth production raised close to $4,000 for the TriCounty Women’s Centre (TCWC), with 10 per cent funnelled to the V-Day 2004 Worldwide Campaign.
This year, proceeds from ticket sales will be directed again towards the TCWC.
The centre offers a variety of services, including individual supportive counselling and advocacy programming based on the needs and wants of women; accompaniment to appointments (lawyer, doctor, court, community services, etc); assistance filling out applications, resumes, or government forms; free pregnancy testing, condoms and inclusive, non-judgmental sexual health and reproductive health information and other services.