Saturday’s sold-out production of “The Vagina Monologues” at the Memorial Union Theater was part of the UW-Madison’s participation in V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women.
V-Day, created in 1998, is a 12-week series of events structured around Valentine’s Day that celebrate the women’s rights movement and raises awareness about domestic violence, sexual assault and rape.
Productions of “The Vagina Monologues,” fundraisers, auctions and other theatrical and artistic events raise money for organizations committed to stopping violence against women.
“V-Day is a chance for women to celebrate their bodies and talk in a frank and open manner about violence against women,” said Nidhi Kashyap, coordinator of the Madison V-Day Collective.
Lisa Konoplisky, executive producer for “The Vagina Monologues,” said women between the ages of 18 and 24 are at the highest risk for violence.
“They are very vulnerable on a lot of levels,” Konoplisky said. “They are transitioning to independence and exploring their sexuality. In addition, men at the college age are in a different place, and things like fraternities create vulnerable environments.”
The monologues illustrate various women’s life experiences. Individual women or women in small groups sit in a spotlight and take turns telling their stories to the audience.
The material comes from interviews with hundreds of women and explores rarely talked about issues relating to women, sex and violence.
Kashyap said this year’s V-Day earnings benefit the Campus Women’s Center, the LGBT and the Women’s Transit Authority, an organization that gives free nighttime rides to women.
“It is really important for women to understand they must support these organizations,” Kashyap said.
UW’s participation is part of V-Day’s college campaign, a branch of the nationwide campaign.
“There is a separate college campaign because so many women of college age deal with situations of date rape,” Konoplisky said. “They are vulnerable at this point, and they feel that college would be a good environment to have a specific focus on V-Day events.”
Worldwide, a total of 543 colleges from Mexico to China participate in V-Day. Nine Wisconsin colleges are involved. Most gain the bulk of their money from student productions of “The Vagina Monologues.”
Schools have raised over $1 million in the past three years.
The original “The Vagina Monologues,” created by Eve Ensler, won the Obie Award for off-Broadway theatre.
“The goal of the play is for fundraising and to give women in the audience a chance to hear stories and women in the cast a chance to participate in the stories,” Konoplisky said. “It is not just for education, but for something enjoyable as well.”
The monologues addressed serious, personal experiences of sexual violence from real interviews with women. Konoplinsky said the audience enjoyed the performance, regardless of seriousness of content.
“People really seemed to laugh; it was a really nice ride,” she said. “Much of the audience might have expected it to be an angry rant, but I think we proved that feminists are not angry people with no humor.”
