This Valentine’s Day weekend, vaginas are taking the stage. The Backdoor Playhouse will present Eve Ensler’s ‘The Vagina Monologues’ for the eighth time since it was brought to Tech’s campus in 2001.
The controversial monologues are performed every other year to promote awareness and to end violence against women and girls globally. It encourages discussions about something every female has, yet no one wants to talk about.
While the title shocks most people originally, the monologues share a powerful message of love and community for women offering insight on what it is really like to be a woman.
This year the show is directed by Mary Boring and Beth Thompson, two local women who bring fresh new ideas to the show in it’s fifteenth anniversary.
The monologues, performed by women of all ages in Cookeville, gather in a coffee shop to share their experiences with love, relationships, sexuality, family and their trials and tribulations they face because they are women.
This year’s focus is on the One Billion Rising movement. Did you know one in three women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime?
Colleges and communities across America have been campaigning for change with V-Day events using ‘The Vagina Monologues’ and other artistic means to raise awareness for gender-based violence. In addition to the show, Tech will host a One Mile for One Billion rally on the Main Quad on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. Art à la Carte is featuring an (It Takes a) Village V-Day Women’s Art Exhibit featuring local female artists who collaborated with the Backdoor Playhouse production to raise awareness for One Billion Rising.
The actual performance dates for The Vagina Monologues will be Feb. 14, 15 and 16 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 general admission and $10 for students. The proceeds go to the cause therefore, no discounts will be available. Seating is limited per usual in the Playhouse so get there early! Join the revolution and celebrate women this Valentine’s Day.
