'Vagina Monologues' aims to raise awareness, funds

By: JEFF PACK - Staff Writer | Wednesday, February 13, 2008 1:02 PM PST ∞

It's hard to argue against the motivation of Patti Drew and the rest of women who will perform Even Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater tonight.

While some critics have insisted the only reason Drew and company are staging the play is to be shocking, offensive and crude, Drew said tonight's performance is first and foremost a benefit for Safe Alternatives For Everyone, an agency in our community whose goal is to prevent domestic violence. It is also linked directly to the V-Day movement, an annual event orchestrated to call attention to violence committed against women and girls.

"I decided to do this because of what's happened in the community in the past year," Drew said. "The murders in Murrieta and Temecula, all of the violence against women in our area, it really got me going."

Writer Eve Ensler wrote the first draft of "The Vagina Monologues" in 1996 following interviews she conducted with 200 women about their views on sex, relationships, and violence against women. In the show, a varying number of women recite the monologues, both dramatic and comic, about topics surrounding the vagina, including sex, love, rape, menstruation and more. According to the V-Day Web site, the play addresses the topics "with humor and grace, the piece celebrates womens' sexuality and strength."

Every February and March, Ensler allows theater groups around the world to perform her play royalty-free so that all proceeds can benefit local anti-violence charities for women and children. Each year, she writes a new piece for what's called "The Spotlight" monologue. Last year's addition dealt with women in conflict, such as their involvement in Iraq. This year's monologue, which was delivered to play-reading groups about three weeks ago, focuses on the women of Hurricane Katrina. The piece will be the final monologue of the evening.

"The audience is going to laugh, cry; there's sadness, there's anger," Drew said. "The audience is going to feel uncomfortable, because they're going to hear things that you don't usually hear outside of your personal comfort zone. But all of the monologues, all the stories that we tell onstage, actually happened. These are women's stories."

Critics have said that the show promotes male-bashing, exploits the female body and its ties to Valentine's Day is an overly-aggressive attempt to cast a shadow on relationships between the opposite sexes. Locally, some community members addressed the Temecula City Council, expressing opposition to the content of the production and criticized the event being held at the city-run facility.

According to Drew, the city did approach her in regards to the content of the play, but at that point, there was little that could even be discussed about editing the performance.

"When I was called by the city, I let them know I was in a contract and it's very specific," she said. "I can't delete and I can't alter the play and I'm certainly going to honor that contract. Also, I don't think there was anything that needed to be deleted.

"People have to realize, I didn't do this so much because I wanted to do this rabble-rousing show," she said. "I did it because of the V-Day movement and this movement benefits domestic abuse."

Although there was no corporate sponsorship for the show, Drew acknowledged somewhat of a backlash toward the beneficiary, Safe Alternatives For Everyone, and its executive director, Melissa Donaldson.

"Melissa was taking quite a bit of heat," she said. "I know some sponsors and groups were not very happy with the decision to push forward with the play as a benefit for S.A.F.E."

With all the controversy, Drew insists that the attention has brought awareness to the cause and trusts that those who attend the show will appreciate the production and know what to expect.

"I have seen a level of sophistication develop in our community in the past few years," she said. "The good thing about this is (the critics) have made people very aware of what they are going to hear at the show. Nobody is going to be surprised."

According to Drew, the controversy surrounding the play has been a benefit the production. Tonight's performance has been a sellout for the past couple of weeks, and Wednesday night's dress rehearsal was expected to draw a big first-come, first-serve crowd.

As for the possibility of a protest before the show or a negative reaction to the production when it's over, Drew feels confident she has done the right thing.

"As I said before, everyone's entitled to their own opinion," she said. "And (the critics) used theirs at the city council meeting and I'm using mine on Feb. 14 at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater."

Drew looked into doing the show last year, but due to time constraints, it just didn't work out.

"It just didn't come to fruition," she said. "By the time they approved me, with very little time needed to push it ahead, (Temecula Valley Players) had already moved on to another production."

This year, Drew and the Temecula Valley Players were prepared.

"When we held auditions, it was the biggest response we'd ever had," she said. "We had 27 women show up, half of which I had never seen or heard of before in my life. In this cast, there are four or five women who are actual survivors of domestic violence."

The performance is bare-bones, there are no costumes or props or scene changes, just the women and the stories.

"This is more storytelling, than acting and we've had very little rehearsal," Drew said. "I think it will make it more real. I asked the ladies to memorize their lines. In the script, they say to use cards, but to me, that puts a block between you and the audience."

"The Vagina Monologues"

When: 7:30 p.m. today

Where: Old Town Temecula Community Theater, 42051 Main St., Temecula

Tickets: sold out

Info: (866) 653-8696