Annual Vagina Monologues held in Tyler Haynes Commons

The chairs were set up, music was playing and the lights were set to a colorful hue. Women wearing black and red walked around and were preparing to talk about one topic for the evening: vaginas.

"I bet you're worried. We were worried. We were worried about vaginas."

These first lines of the monologue delivered by Bryarly Richards, Katie Lambeth and Mary McDonnell began the monologue as they stood on stage.

"The Vagina Monologues," a benefit production, held its annual performance in Tyler Haynes Commons the evenings of Feb. 13 and Feb. 14.

Before the show started, senior Jack Wisnefske said he had decided to watch the performance to support his friend and because the profits raised from the performance went to a good cause.

"It is about an issue that is unspoken, a taboo," he said,

McDonnell, the performance's director, said they had brought, "The Vagina Monologues" to campus every year to raise awareness of violence against women.

Statistics show one in three women will be physically or sexually abused in their lifetime, said Lambeth, the assistant producer.

The monologues in the show are based off Eve Ensler's book, which is a compilation of a series of interviews, Lambeth said. According to one of the monologues, more than 200 women of all types and backgrounds were interviewed for the book's content.

Some of the monologues were about being a woman, virginity, tampons, going to the doctor, rape, sexual assault and sex slavery and trafficking, Richards, senior producer, said.

McDonnell said some of the monologues were uncomfortable and upsetting to hear, but that they were unnerving for a reason.

"If it is hard to listen to the experiences as an audience," she said, "imagine how much harder it is to live out that experience."

Every year, a new monologue is added to the production to keep the show current, Lambeth said. Richards said this year, the "spotlight" monologue had been a combination of the past three years' standout monologues that focused on problems and poverty in Haiti, New Orleans and Congo.

Lambeth said,"[The show is] people playing characters from all around the world, all diversities, all their experiences; some good, some bad, some sad."

The cast of the University of Richmond's "The Vagina Monologues" included women who had performed for the campaign since their freshman year, members of Women in Living and Learning and women from the University of Richmond Law School and School of Continuing Studies, Richards said.

After creating "The Vagina Monologues," Ensler founded V-Day, a non-profit organization that supports anti-violence organizations around the world and strives to stop violence against women, according to the V-Day website. The website also said "The Vagina Monologues" is one of V-Day's campaigns to raise money for the organization.

Ten percent of the proceeds from "The Vagina Monologues" go to the V-Day organization and the other 90% is being donated to Safe Harbor, a local shelter for women who have been domestically abused, Richards said.

Richards said they had been giving the majority of the proceeds to Safe Harbor for at least 10 years. She said that the partnership was strong and long-lasting because the profits helped local women in Richmond.

Angela Verdery, public information manager at Safe Harbor, said the organization saw about 40 people a day through the different program offerings.

Safe Harbor promotes healthy relationships and sexuality, she said.

Verdery said that she and the other staff members were excited about "The Vagina Monologues" because it could be eye opening or validating. It is important that people on college campuses recognize the hardships women go through, Verdery said.

"Things that happen through the arts give people a different way to experience [issues in society]," Verdery said.

Lambeth said the hardest part about "The Vagina Monologues" had been publicizing the show in a positive way. Lambeth said she had tried to present the production's efforts and message in a way that was more appealing to audiences because some people were uncomfortable with the word "vagina."

McDonnell said there was a misconception that "The Vagina Monologues" were anti-men and forced a viewpoint on its audiences.

"It is just about raising awareness more than anything else," she said.

Senior Christopher Hooper said that the performance had been great.

"It was a cool mix of funny and personal stories while very much addressing issues of mutilation and violence against women," he said. "As a guy, it was interesting hearing that side of things."

Richards said because of her involvement "The Vagina Monologues," she was now learning, growing and becoming more passionate about fighting violence against women.

"A lot of the stuff that happens to women is so shocking," she said. "We need to take a step back and realize the stuff they go through."

Contact reporter Marie Jayme at marie.jayme@richmond.edu