Zonta Club III of Colombo presents ‘The Vagina Monologues’
Friday, 8 August 2014 01:17
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Eve Ensler’s award-winning play
Entertainment for a cause
The Zonta Club III of Colombo presents the world acclaimed benefit production of Eve Ensler’s – ‘The Vagina Monologues’ as part of its ‘No to Violence’ initiative to create awareness of the futility of violence to women and children to audiences in Sri Lanka. Poor-Box Productions, an acclaimed award-winning theatre company based in Mumbai India, will be flown down for the event, for two performances to be held on 24 August 2014 at the British School Auditorium, Colombo 08 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Violence and abuse affect women from all kinds of backgrounds every day. According to a UN Survey on Violence against Women in Sri Lanka, a woman is raped every 90 minutes. Additionally, as identified by the group Women for Rights, 95% of women who use public transport in Sri Lanka experience sexual harassment. As art has the power to change attitudes and encourage people to act, the Zonta Club III of Colombo aims to generate broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, through a benefit performance by educating and changing social attitudes towards this pressing issue. Zonta believes that women ought to spend their lives flourishing and creating rather than merely surviving and recovering from horrific brutalities.
The award-winning powerful play, based on playwright Eve Ensler’s interviews with more than 200 women, addresses women’s sexuality and the social stigma surrounding rape and abuse. Their experiences are molded into a sequence of sad, funny, wounded, outraged, and joyful deliberations on the landscape of the female body and the violence to which it can be subjected. It is an unusual blend of outrageous comedy and heartbreaking drama and tells the stories of women like you have never heard before. For more than a decade, ‘The Vagina Monologues’ has given voice to experiences and feelings not previously exposed in public and brought a deeper consciousness to educate and change social attitudes towards violence against women.
Each of the monologues deals with a feature of femininity, touching on issues such as love, sex, rape, menstruation, birth, female genital mutilation, the various common names for the vagina, or simply as a physical aspect of the body. A recurring theme throughout the performance is the vagina as a device of female emancipation, and the fundamental embodiment of individuality.
In 2004, Poor-Box Productions produced ‘V-Day India’ bringing down Oscar-winners Jane Fonda and Marisa Tomei with ‘The Vagina Monologues’ playwright Eve Ensler to perform with the Indian Cast in Mumbai and Delhi. The company has also partnered with some of the best and brightest stars of Bollywood – Imran Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Sandip Soparrkar, Loveleen Tandon and many more – to spread the word of non-violence against women. Mahabanoo-Mody Kotwal, an internationally acclaimed producer, director and stage and screen actor, will direct the performance. She was chosen by Femina Magazine as one of the 50 most powerful women in India in 2007.
The main goal and focus in the Zonta biennium of 2014-16 is to launch an immense Advocacy campaign to reduce the incidences of Violence against Women through awareness to all sections of society, including the future generations of Sri-Lanka. These issues must be addressed and regarded as an intolerable violation of human dignity.
The Wijeya Group has very kindly partnered with Zonta Club III of Colombo as the Print media sponsor through their esteemed publications – The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Times and The Daily FT. Other main event sponsors are – Hirdaramani Group, Taj Samudra Colombo as hospitality sponsor and Pan Lanka Travels & Tours as transport provider.
Tickets for the performance are priced at Rs. 5,000, Rs. 4,000, Rs. 3,500, Rs. 2,500 and Rs. 1,500. They are available at the British School of Colombo. Additionally, for ticket bookings you may simply call Quickee.lk on 0117324325/6, get them delivered to you and pay with cash or card on delivery. For updates on tickets and the box plan, please visit the Zonta Club III Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/zontaclub3.
This powerful, hilariously witty and moving collection of tales is sure to appeal to a wide adult audience. The performance is specifically designed to be viewed by adults and therefore may be unsuitable for children under 18.
Zonta International, is a service organization of women executives and professionals working together to advance the status of women and children world-wide. Zonta has over 34,000 members in 1230 clubs across 70 countries. In Sri Lanka, Zonta has a strong presence with 5 Clubs, one Z Club and three Golden Z Clubs collectively working towards this common goal.
Zonta Club III of Colombo strives to raise funds for the numerous projects undertaken to enhance and develop the lives of less fortunate women and children. Its programs include the Zonta Women of Tomorrow (ZWOT) Mentorship program which aims to enhance and hone the employability and professional skills of young Sri Lankan women, the resettlement of the war widows of the Weli-Oya area (together with Brigade 622 of the Sri Lanka Army) and the Golden Z Club of under-graduate members who will work towards a joint mission of uplifting the lives of women and children in Sri Lanka.
