| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | |
| DATE: | February 7, 2007 |
| CONTACT: | Rhonda Williamson 361.825.5531; or Steve Paschal 361.825.2336 |
| PHOTO: | http://kanga.tamucc.edu/PublicAffairs/VaginaMono.jpg |
| Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Women’s Center to Present Obie Award-Winning Play “The Vagina Monologues” | |
“The Vagina Monologues” has been performed in cities all across America and at hundreds of college campuses. Witty and irreverent, compassionate and wise, “The Vagina Monologues” gives voice to women's stories of intimacy, vulnerability, and self-discovery. Eve Ensler’ celebration of female sexuality in all its complexity and mystery is a winner of the coveted Obie Award, which each year honors the best off-Broadway theatre productions.
The performances of “The Vagina Monologues” coincide with “V-Day,” a global movement to promote awareness of violence against women and girls including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery. The 'V' in “V-Day” stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.
Through “V-Day” campaigns, local volunteers and college students produce annual benefit performances of “The Vagina Monologues” to raise funds for anti-violence groups within their own communities. Last year, more than 2,000 “V-Day” benefit events were presented by volunteer activists in the United States and 76 countries around the world.
A&M-Corpus Christi’s Women's Center for Education and Service has been working to improve the well-being of women faculty, staff and students since 1995. The Center also works closely with the local community to build a larger network of resources through such agencies as the American Cancer Society, the City of Corpus Christi, Planned Parenthood, the Women's Shelter of South Texas, and the YWCA.
“Every 12 seconds a woman is beaten in this country. A woman is killed every six hours,” said Rhonda Williamson, coordinator of the University’s Women’s Center. “If we don’t educate about these issues and empower women to work at eliminating the violence in their lives, this isn’t going to go away. I have a 3-year-old daughter. I don’t want these to be the statistics for her generation.”
“V-Day” is helping to build movements against violence in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Working with local organizations, “V-Day” has helped open the first shelters for women in Egypt and Iraq, sponsored three national campaigns in Afghanistan that included donating satellite phones to keep the lines of communication with Afghan women open, and convened the "Confronting Violence" conference of South Asian women leaders.
“What’s so moving about ‘The Vagina Monologues’ is that Ensler has captured the impact violence has on survivors and made that accessible to an audience. You leave a performance wanting to help solve this problem,” said Williamson. “This year’s production is directed by Karen Alvarado, a senior theatre major. She has taken a very different approach to the material, weaving it with song, dance, and art. It is going to be an incredible show.”
Friday’s performance will be preceded by a silent auction. Doors open at 7 p.m. and bidding will continue through intermission.
Tickets for the “Vagina Monologues are $10. Special discount blocks are available for $80. Doors open at 7 p.m. for a silent auction and the show starts at 8 p.m. All proceeds benefit the programs of the Women's Center. The “Vagina Monologues” is for mature audiences. To view a media file about the “Vagina Monologues” or the V-Day campaign go to http://falcon.tamucc.edu/~womctr/. For more information call the Women’s Center for Education and Service at (361) 825-2792.