January 9, 2004

Students present Vagina Monologues

California State University, Sacramento is set to host for the third year Eve Ensler’s hilarious, poignant and empowering The Vagina Monologues in a production directed and performed entirely by CSUS students.

Three performances of the Obie Award-winning play are scheduled for 8 p.m., Friday to Sunday, Feb. 6 to 8, in the University Theatre in Shasta Hall.

The show is based on interviews Ensler conducted with more than 200 women about their sexuality. From them, she created a delicately balanced series of painful, joyous, mysterious and ultimately powerful tales told from their perspective. Ranging from delightful sexual experiences to organized rape in Bosnia, the stories honor all women.

CSUS students Michele Blomsterberg and Katharine M. Old direct a cast of nearly a dozen women in this year’s University production. A new addition will be the naming of several local “Vagina Warriors” during the performances. To qualify for the award, the honoree must have “worked to end violence towards women, either on a personal or public level” says Patricia Grady, coordinator of the CSUS Women’s Resource Center.

The CSUS presentation of the Monologues is part of a worldwide movement created by Ensler to help end violence against women and girls centered on “V-Day” Feb. 14. More than 600 colleges presented the play last year in support “V-Day.” The CSUS production benefits the CSUS Women’s Resource Center and the SHARE Institute, a local non-profit organization working to improve the health and well-being of women and families in the United States and abroad.

The show has sold out the previous two years, and advanced ticket purchase is recommended. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $8 for students and $10 for groups of 10 or more, and can be purchased at the CSUS Ticket Office at (916) 278-4323 or www.tickets.com. Media assistance is available from the CSUS public affairs office at (916) 278-6156.

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