The ‘Vagina Monologues’ to benefit RISE

Peering through the female portal to a deeper understanding of violence against women

By SANDY LONG

LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY — The stories are real, and whether they focus on sex, love, rape, menstruation, masturbation, mutilation or childbirth, they are witnessed through the lens of a woman’s most private body part—the vagina.

The 16-member cast is locally derived, and whether the actress is poet Marcia Nehemiah or psychologist Deborah Chandler, there’s a good chance you will know one of them, and begin to see them in a new light as they deliver one of the monologues, all of which center around the vagina as both a target for violence against women and a source of female empowerment.

The Obie-award-winning “Vagina Monologues” was created by playwright Eve Ensler and has become an international phenomenon performed at campuses and venues around the world for V-Day, an annual event and non-profit organization aimed at stopping violence against women. Based on 200 interviews with women of all ages, ethnicities and sexual orientations about their memories and experiences of sexuality, the controversial play has been translated into 24 languages.

Ensler is currently on a nationwide 20-city speaking tour promoting the 10th anniversary of the play’s first benefit performance in 1998. Over the past decade, V-Day has raised more than $50 million and funded more than 5,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses around the world.

Locally, the play is being performed as a benefit for Planned Parenthood Mid-Hudson Valley’s Rape Intervention Services and Education (RISE) program. The cast rehearses at Act Underground, director Penelope Morgan Lohr’s acting studio in Narrowsburg. Morgan Lohr, producer Cindy Zingher, stage manager Alison Peck and all of the cast have donated their services.

Cast members choose to participate for a variety of reasons. Chandler did it in order to promote the play’s messages. “I thought it was important to support RISE and women’s freedom to be themselves and to be their sexual selves,” she said. “There is still tremendous unkindness and abuse of women around the world.”

Helen Rados, a longtime RISE volunteer, said she loves being involved with the organization and wanted to lend her support to the project. Rados has an 18-year-old daughter who has seen the play and benefited from the experience. “It’s important for younger women to see the show and to be empowered by what they experience,” said Rados.

The series of monologues is interspersed with funny, frank or sobering facts. We learn that female genital mutilation is still inflicted on 130 million girls and young women around the world with crude implements like razors and glass shards. We learn that in America, 200,000 women are raped every year. We learn that the majority of homeless women were sexually abused and have fled their homes as a result.

We leave with the understanding that there is still much work to be done when it comes to violence against women. Not for the faint of heart, the “Vagina Monologues” engages the heart that is willing to become more courageous for the sake and safety of women.

The “Vagina Monologues” will be performed at Sullivan County Community College’s Seelig Theatre on Saturday, March 1 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 2 at 3:00 p.m. General admission is $25; seniors and students pay $20. Tickets may be purchased online at ppmhv.org/events or by calling RISE at 845/791-5308.

Planned Parenthood’s RISE program

RISE is located at 14 Prince Street in Monticello, NY 12701. A 24-hour helpline is maintained at 845/791-9595. Trained staff and volunteers provide confidential assistance in the form of information, referrals, support groups, counseling, education and legal and medical advocacy to victims of any sex.

According to director Cindy Zingher, RISE provides counseling and advocacy services for approximately 250 Sullivan County clients per year and educational outreach to thousands. Zingher noted that, while there is “no rhyme or reason” to the crime of violence against women, more than 94 percent of such acts of violence are perpetrated by assailants familiar to the victim.

Due to recent budget cuts, the number of staff members at RISE has been reduced to one part-time and two full-time employees. Zingher stressed the value of the program’s volunteers and encouraged anyone interested in volunteering to call the helpline.

For those who can’t attend the show but would like to support RISE, contributions can be made payable to PPMHV/RISE and mailed to the address above.