Hours before the show, the performers of the 14th annual Vagina Monologues are hanging out in the Student Center Auditorium room like it’s a casual club meeting. There are no performers nervously rehearsing their dialogue, no last-minute changes taking place and no catty arguments breaking out. The young women are going over their monologues amongst each other, giving out advice and support, passing out baked goods, and sharing laughs before the first performance of the weekend. This palpable sense of community among these young women is brought the forefront during the performance.

“I’m so excited, I’m not only excited to perform, but I’m excited to see the reaction of people whose first time it is coming to this,” said junior Katrina Lacsam, one of the three co-directors of the show.

Lacsam is a three-year Vagina Monologues veteran, and many other performers are back to perform for a second or third time.

“This is my second year, I was really moved by the whole experience last year, and I just really wanted to be part of a strong female community again, so I auditioned again,” said Cassidy Drew, a junior.

The Vagina Monologues began as a collection of monologues taken from the real-life interviews of more than 200 women from around the world. The play was first performed by playwright and activist, Eve Ensler in 1994, the monologues openly addressed issues normally discussed as taboo such as rape, female genital mutilation, masturbation, orgasms, sexual assault and domestic abuse.

The Vagina Monologues are a part of V-Day, the global activist movement to stop violence against women and girls. This year’s performance raised funds for three local beneficiaries: Apna Ghar, Rape Victim Advocates and Take Back the Halls.

Half-way through the performance, the performers asked for survivors of rape and or sexual abuse to stand up, a few members of the audience stood up, and about half of the performers on-stage stood up.

“I’m a survivor of sexual assault. It’s been a hard road to get to this point, but it’s been a great experience working with these girls and having this form of release,” said junior Megan Turner.

“I didn’t realize how big of an issue it is, we all talk about it, it’s kind of a taboo subject, but you don’t realize it’s everywhere,” said Lacsam. “I can’t believe the amount of girls I know in my personal life that have been affected by this.”

The Vagina Monologues are essentially activism performed through the art of monologue. It takes the audience on a roller-coaster ride of emotions, from witty laugh-out-loud monologues to monologues that moved many audience members to tears.

Even though these monologues are more than a decade old, they still resonate with the audience. Every year a different performer does a different monologue, so its delivery is always different and its message can be re-interpreted and revisited every year, making the Vagina Monologues a long-lasting community made-up of young women promoting advocacy through the arts.  

To celebrate the anniversary of V-Day, the One Billion Rising campaign was launched inviting women and those who love them to walk out and dance in solidarity to demand an end to violence against women. According to a 2003 United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women report one in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime, which is approximately one billion women.

For anyone unfamiliar with the issues presented at the Vagina Monologues, it’s a lot to take in, but seeing a Vagina Monologues performance is a good starting point for anyone interested in supporting women’s rights.

“I hope they just learn more about the different facts, take away that one in three women will be raped and beaten in their lifetime,” said Richla Davis, a senior.  “I hope that the show will motive people to go into to the community and spread awareness, be active and advocate so that we can reduce and stop violence.”