County women plan benefit performance of ‘Vagina Monologues’

PRESQUE ISLE – A group of Aroostook County women will take the stage tonight and Saturday night to present Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Wieden Auditorium.

The 10-woman cast will perform monologues about women’s issues, ranging from the intimate to the universal.

The event is pegged to what organizers call V-Day, a global movement working toward an end to violence against women and girls. The movement uses public performances, education, networking and fund-raising activities to make its point.

Through V-Day campaigns, volunteers and college students produce annual benefit performances of Ensler’s Obie Award-winning play to raise awareness and money for anti-violence groups in their communities and across the world.

The performance is designed to create a forum open to women of all ages around the world to talk about women’s bodies and experiences, according to the organizer for the Presque Isle show.

“Personally, I don’t think we have a lot of opportunities for women to sit together and celebrate who they are and talk about issues that are happening to women around the world,” Tara White, UMPI student and production organizer, said Thursday. “That and the fact that this helps to combat violence against women are the main reasons I wanted to see this show happen.”

This year, more than 2,500 benefit productions of “The Vagina Monologues” will take place in 1,116 communities – 719 college events and nearly 400 community events – around the globe.

Organizers across the world will highlight and raise money for the 2005 Spotlight Women of Iraq: Under Siege project. The local performers also will donate part of the play’s proceeds to the Battered Women’s Project of Aroostook County.

“The Vagina Monologues” will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 5 and 6. Tickets will be available at the door for $5.