V-Day has become a day of significant import in Cranbrook, and this year, what has proved to be a very popular production in Cranbrook is being performed again in two weeks time.
The Vagina Monologues takes place Feb.15 at the Key City Theatre. For the third time, Tanya Laing Gahr is directing the powerful, episodic play by Eve Ensler dealing with aspects of the feminine experience. For the second year in a row, the event will serve as a fundraiser for the Cranbrook Women's Resource Centre.
The play is the cornerstone of the V-Day movement, whose participants stage benefit performances of the show and/or host other related events in their communities. Such events take place worldwide each year between February 1 and April 30.
"The Vagina Monologues is part of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls," Laing Gahr said. "Cranbrook's resource centre is the first stop for many women who are experiencing violence and are choosing to get the support they need to move on."
Last year's production — directed by Laing Gahr and produced by Susan Hansen — raised nearly $8,000 for the centre, which has been serving women in Cranbrook for 41 years.
"The Cranbrook Women's Resource Centre helps hundreds of women — and their children — every year," Laing Gahr said. "Our theatre company, Drama Queens, has chosen to support the resource centre because we believe in the work it does—and we believe in the women who use it."
The Cranbrook Women's Resource Centre is one of the last centres of its kind in the province. Funding cuts have led to centres shutting down, and the Cranbrook centre was shut down for several months during 2011.
This year, the overall fundraising goal for the centre is $50,000.
The Vagina Monologues is made up of a varying number of monologues read by a varying number of women. Each of the monologues touches on matters such as sex, love, rape, menstruation, birth, orgasm, the various common names for the vagina, or simply as a physical aspect of the body. A recurring theme throughout the piece is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality.
"You'll walk out of this event feeling energized," Laing Gahr said. "The excitement, the performers and the message are going to combine into an evening that inspires, provokes and entertains."
Tickets are now on sale at the Key City Theatre Box Office. They are $25. All of the proceeds will go to the Cranbrook Women's Resource Centre.