March 8 is International Women’s Day and Cagayan de Oro is celebrating it with a special benefit staging of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues.
More than 20 years ago, Eve Ensler gathered stories of women from all over the world and created The Vagina Monologues. This once controversial, interesting, thought-provoking, award-winning and groundbreaking play is considered the flagship event of the V-Day global movement against violence on women and girls.
Here in Cagayan de Oro, Oro Teatro Bulawanon and Vday CDO have been staging benefit performances of the said play as part of their artistic campaign in raising awareness on issues such as domestic violence, rape, sexual discrimination, and sexual harassment, among others. The group’s goal is to raise funds that they can use to come up with creative programs for their beneficiary. This year, they plan to hold a one-day event for some abandoned, orphaned, and abused girls.
Original Pieces
The Vagina Monologues 2019 will not only feature Ensler’s masterpieces; it will also put the spotlight on some original pieces written by Kagay-anons. There are Bisaya and English pieces written by Ms. Rhona Canoy, Ms. Adeva Esparrago, Ms. Aicy Soriano, and Ms. Bex Espino.
These pieces talk about timely issues like rape, harassment, and discrimination. Espino’s Daddy’s Girl is a touching story of a girl who idolized her father for the wrong reasons. Soriano’s pieces recall two important events in a female teenager’s life. Esparrago has around four pieces in the play and all center on abuse and discrimination, with some even based on real-life events.
Ms. Rhona Canoy’s Look at Me is about a mature woman’s heartaches, realizations, and triumphs in a world that craves for social validation.
Kagay-anon Artists
Aside from original pieces, The Vagina Monologues also features some of Cagayan de Oro’s best artists including Ms. Nicole Abas-Datayan, Ms. Leslie Encong-Yap, Ms. Aicy Soriano, Ms. Christy Bacoto, Mr. Karl Owen Sayson, Ms. Kale Alphe Ramos, Ms. Bex Espino, Ms. Perpie Wabe, Ms. Rea Baldejo, and Ms. Precious Queenie Yap.
In addition, the show shines the spotlight on some Arts & Design students of Liceo de Cagayan University Senior High School: Richard Kent Eduria, Joven Amplayo, Joel de los Santos, Joseph Khent Rivera, Jay Abcede, Khiara Bucol, Christy Aboniawan, Allyza Buslon, Maria Therese Palma, Katleen Obsioma, Khrezyl Necole Ypil, Maria Therese Palma, Patrisha Paguia, Mary Cris Salem, Julia Recaña. Zipha Kaye Ibañez and Catherine Shin, also senior high school students, will likewise be performing.
This year’s TVM also includes two young girls, one performing a piece called Six-Year-Old-Girl and the other performing an original piece called The Little Miss. This is the first time that girls as young as seven years old are included in the show.
Inclusive Show
As in the previous years, the show incorporates pieces lifted from A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer, which is a collection of monologues by world-renowned authors and playwrights like Maya Angelou and Edward Albee. MMRP features diverse voices of characters who break open, expose, and examine violence at all levels and types. The pieces create a realistic portrait of how violence against women (and the LGBTQ & men) affect every one of us.
The spotlight narration, aptly titled “To Stop the Violence Against Woman”, is lifted from MMRP.
Vday CDO and Oro Teatro Bulawanon aim to use the show to make everyone realize that to move forward and find a solution for the problem of violence, we must work together regardless of gender. This is why the production has men and the LGBTQ working with and performing alongside women from all walks of life.
When, Where, & How Much
The Vagina Monologues 2019 will be staged at Superstar KTV Lounge & Bar, which is located at Cagayan Town Center along Antonio Luna and Capt. Vicente Roa Streets. Donation tickets are at PhP175. Doors will open by 5:30 pm and the show will start at 6:00 pm on Friday, March 08.
The donation tickets are available at Superstar KTV. You may also call or text 0917-8708792 for reservations. At least 10% of the total sales will be donated to the Vday Worldwide Fund for the movement against violence on women and girls.
To raise more funds for the VDay campaign, the TVM group is also selling personalized t-shirts with the print “Ang Bilat Dili Pamalikas”. The same shirts were also sold last year. Selling price for the shirt is PhP150. They will be available in a limited number at the entrance on Saturday.
The Vagina Monologues is brought to you by Vday CDO 2019, Oro Teatro Bulawanon, and Superstar KTV Lounge & Club in partnership with Atty. Rufus B. Rodriguez, Rotaract CDO East Urban, X-Unified Dance Studio, Loreto’s, Boy Zugba, and Zonta Club CDO.
Celebrate International Women’s Day the right way. Watch The Vagina Monologues on March 08 at Superstar KTV! See you there!
For updates and additional details, check out The Vagina Monologues events page on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/361595971330362/.
All photos by Tom Udasco/Tom Udasco Photography. Location: Loreto’s
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