Some 40 women are taking part of a benefit performance of Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues on Friday and Saturday as part of Ottawa’s 2010 V-Day campaign to stop violence against women.
The play is based on hundreds of interviews in which Ensler asked women about their views on sex, relationships and violence against women. The money raised by the performances goes to the Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC) and The Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre (ORCC). Ten percent will also go to help support the campaign to end rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This will be the sixth time The Vagina Monologues is presented in Ottawa. Last year’s performance raised more than $40,000. Karen McCarthy, a performer in one of the monologues also acted in the play last year.
“Last year I did the monologue Hair which is about a woman who has a husband that makes her shave her vagina. This monologue points out that a guy can not just pick the parts he wants,” says McCarthy.
The monologue ‘My vagina is a village’ is about a woman who was raped and abused by soldiers. “The V-day campaign celebrates women, like in the monologue I am doing this year, but it also helps to raise awareness,” says McCarthy. “There really is violence against women.
High school students from across the city have been invited to come and see the dress rehearsal, organized by Erin Williams, executive director of the Ottawa Coalition To End Violence Against Women, on Friday Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. at the Jack Purcell Community Centre. Regular performances, produced by Rima Zabian, are scheduled to run Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. at The National Gallery of Canada. Tickets are can be purchased in advance for $20, and they will also be available at the door for $25. Details are to be found on www.ottawavday.ca .