Vagina Monologues

An entirely female cast will spotlight some uncomfortable and even racy women's issues this weekend as a part of "The Vagina Monologues," a global movement to stop violence against women and girls.\nTwenty-seven students and gender studies professor Julie Thomas will perform the play by award-winning playwright Eve Ensler, who wrote the script based on the most prevalent themes throughout the lives of hundreds of women of all nationalities and locations.\nElisabeth Crum, IU's play director and organizer and a senior studying history and gender studies, said she thinks people should talk about how their bodies are feeling in everyday conversation like any other topic. \n"It gets people to talk about a part of the body that is repressed in social discussion," Crum says. "There aren't a lot of times when women are brought together to talk about intimate issues. I highly recommend having some amazing women in your life to talk about yourselves, your bodies and your lives." \nPeter Huff, the only male helping with the production, agrees the play pushes people out of their comfort zones as it highlights important women's issues that need to be addressed.\n"Most importantly it inspires discussion," Huff says. "The more you talk about it, the less it becomes so obscure and taboo."\nNinety percent of profits from the play go to Middle Way House and Girls Inc., two organizations that aid women in repeated relationship violence. The other 10 percent will be sent to Comfort Women, an organization for Korean women who were sold as sex slaves during World War II.\n"There will be on-site advocates, volunteers from Middle Way House, if there's a woman there that feels she needs to talk to someone before or after the performance," Crum says.\nAs director, Crum says her job was easy. \n"Every woman brought so much personality, character and charisma to their performances," Crum says. "I've never worked with a better group of actresses."\nCrum says the set design is a coffee shop "in our attempt to be welcoming and comforting, and make the audience feel like they are listening in on the women's conversations together." \nAll black costumes with red and pink accents make it appear that the women could be living in any time period, or at any location to make the play applicable to women of every age, race and demographic.\nHuff says their cause has received support from the residence hall staff as well as the community. \n"It was definitely a learning experience," Huff says. "It's great what you can accomplish when you motivate enough people"