The Vagina Monologues is performed annually to bring attention to V-Day in thousands of cities and colleges worldwide. The performances generally benefit rape crisis centers and similar resource centers for women.
The Vagina Monologues were also performed in four Muslim countries deemed to be liberal enough to hold the performances. They were Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan.
The Vagina Monologues has been performed in 77 countries.[5] Some details below:
Albania
Directed by Altin Basha, The Vagina Monologues has been playing in Albania since 2002. First time performance appeared on stage at "House Of Arts" (Tirana) on February 14, 2002.
The play has been performed in Australia on a number of occasions. Many of the productions have been done as ensemble pieces, with the monologues being performed by an individual actress.[7] Actresses, singers and politicians who have been involved with the Australian productions include:
’The Vagina Monologues’ was performed by Members of the European Parliament in Brussels (European Parliament, Paul-Henri-Spaak building) on 6 March 2012.[23]
The first production of the monologues in Egypt was staged in 2004 by students of the American University of Cairo. The day after the staging it was condemned by Suzanne Mubarak, First Lady and President of the Egyptian National Women Committee.
The play was originally called "VV Story" (VV物語), but changed to Vagina Monologues (陰道獨白)in the re-run. It was performed in the City Hall from 4 July to 11 July 2007.
Note: It has been playing in Hungary since 2002 by two different troupes, one in the capital, Budapest in the "Thalía Theatre", and the other troupe travelling the country.
Among other changes unique to this production, the original monologue "The Flood", which originally featured a Jewish woman, has been transformed into a story about an elderly Parsi woman. Additionally, another character was adapted as a Maharashtrian woman in the Indian production.[27]
January 2007: The Hindi language translation of The Vagina Monologues titled Kissa Yoni Ka debuted in Mumbai at the NCPA's TATA Theatre. The cast included: Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, Dolly Thakore, Varshaa Agnihotri, Russika Duggal, Geetika Tyagi and Shivani Tanksale. The last two have been replaced by Dilnaz Irani since August 2008.
The Monologue was performed for the first time in Indonesia on March 8, 2002, in Jakarta, as part of the Women's Day celebration. It was staged at the Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta Cultural Center. Some performers had doubts about the performance because the theme might be considered taboo and sensitive by some people in that country.
The performance was repeated in Yogyakarta on March 31 – April 1, 2004, and at the Cultural Center of Bengkulu, Sumatra on August 19, 2004.
The first performances were done in spring of 2001. The following year, it was performed in English at Merkaz Hamagshamim Theater in Jerusalem as well as in Hebrew in Tel Aviv. The English performance had vocal music vignettes between each new scene. (The English cast was also invited to perform there production in Riga, Latvia for the Latvian International theater festival.) The Vagina Monologues were performed in English in Jerusalem, Israel by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion as a benefit for The Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center as part of V-Day events at least since 2005. It was performed in Russian in 2006.
The show has also been produced by The Stage in an English-language performance incorporating 13 monologues in February 2014, in Tel Aviv, directed by S. Asher Gelman.
The Vagina Monologues opened in Mexico on October 19, 2000, and in November 2009 celebrated its 5,800th performance. It has a record 110 continuous weeks of uninterrupted performances, and on October 19, 2010, holds for Mexico an unsurpassable ten-year run. It is the only theatrical event which constantly presents 12 performances a week in Mexico City, on top of the touring versions reaching almost a hundred towns in the country. Its five venues in the capital have been: Nuevo Teatro Sala Chopin; Teatro Gran Meliá; Teatro del Hotel NH; Centro Cultural San Ángel; and Nuevo Teatro del Hotel NH. After 14 years playing in Mexico, On May 6, 2014, the Mexican Production will become the first revival of the show in New York at the Westside Theatre Downstairs (The original theatre were the first US production was shown), making it the first open run engagement totally in Spanish. The producers are OCESA Teatro and Morris Gilbert, and has been translated into Spanish by Susana Moscatel and Erick Merino.
Note: Since it opened, over 80 women: actors, communicators, singers, sexologists, journalists, dancers, politicians and social and political activists have performed in the Mexican production.
Date: March 2007 It was held in March 2007 with volunteers from abroad and domestic. It was named as 'The Vagina Monologues 2007' (V-Day Seoul). The performance, especially, honored the women of The House of Sharing (a home for former comfort women) as Vagina Warriors by putting on a monologue, 'Say It'. And V-Day Spotlight 2007 addresses Women in Conflict Zones because was exponentially increases the crimes of violence against women and girls. It has planned to perform again in 2008 by V-Day Seoul Team.
Language: Korean & English (Subtitle was submitted)
Actresses:
Introduction - Jyoung-Ah, Andrea, Katherine
Hair - Sun-Young
Wear and Say - Karla, Shauna, Laurie
The Flood - Meryl
The Vagina Workshop - Jin-Hyung
Because He Liked to Look At It - Katherine
I Was 12. My Mother Slapped Me - Seh-Eun, Yukyung, Jin-Sun, Jin-Hyung
The production cited here was a College Campaign production and was run by the students of the University of KwaZulu Natal, Howard College, Durban in April 2006. Funded by AK Print, Afriscan, Badge It!, Ish Ramkissoon Surveys and aided by the university's department of Drama & Performance Studies, the production focused on reaching students via 'South African-ising' the play and locating the monologues in a South African socio-cultural and political context. AS the play is located in an American context, the actresses felt that the text should be tweaked so as to show a bit more of an African vibe. For this purpose, the director was accepting of the fact that a lot of the actresses added in South African references such as events, words in isiZulu and commentary on current affairs in South Africa. Male students from the university were eager to help and they did help in terms of administration, lighting, sound, advertising as well as merchandise and ticket sales. The show was sold out for all performance nights and the proceeds went to the Advice Desk for the Abused in Durban. The university hopes to make the play an annual event.
The Vagina Monologues has been performed by the Garden of Hope Foundation (GOH) in Taiwan since 2005. In the first year, the GOH worked together with Taiwan Women's Link and the Taipei Association of Women's Rights to stage a bilingual Chinese-English performance of the play.
Since 2006, the GOH has staged the monologues with its own staff performing the roles. The GOH is an NGO that offers services to women and girls who are victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. By playing out the stage roles, the GOH employees say they are able to identify more closely with their clients.
In the 2012 show, GOH employees were joined by the Barefoot Alice theater group – a group of actresses who were victims of sexual abuse or domestic violence in the past, and who came up through one of the GOH's counseling centers. The actors performed “playback” improvised skits of stories told by members of the audience.
Past performances:
2005: Red Play House, Taipei
2006: Jingguo Theater, Sanchong
2007: Shiquan Movie Theater, Kaohsiung
2008: Tunghai University, Taichung
2009: Taitung Railway Art Village Theater & Hualien Cultural and Creative Industries Park
2010: Chung Yuan University Concert Hall, Taoyuan
2011: Preparatory Office of the Wei Wu Ying Center for the Arts, Kaohsiung
2012: Garden of Hope central office, New Taipei City
2012 Performers:
GOH employees:
Guo Yuyin (郭育吟)
Wang Pinxuan (王品璇)
Pang Chenchen (龐珍珍)
Lin Jiayuan (林佳緣)
Kelly Li
Debra Ji
Li Miaofen (李妙芬)
Zhou Yuru(周育如)
Gao Zhenxuan (高振軒) (male experience)
Barefoot Alice theater group members:
Yangyoung
Rao Huihui (饒蕙蕙)
Shrek
Lin Shufen (林淑芬)
Fang Manzhen (方滿珍)
Turkey
The Vagina Monologues (Vajina Monologları, in Turkish) has been performed at various venues throughout Turkey since February 2003, with the original production taking place at the Barış Manço Cultural Center in Kadıköy, Istanbul under the direction of Almula Merter, who also translated the original script.[32] The play, which had originally raised concerns of indecency and was denied access to venues at some publicly funded theaters,[33][34] was ultimately performed to great success and subsequently inspired the locally penned 2008 book "İşte Böyle Güzelim" ("This is How I Am Beautiful") - a collection of interviews and essays on the female experience and women's sexuality in Turkey influenced by the style and greater mission of The Vagina Monologues.[35]
Los monólogos de la vagina was performed with success in 2007 in the Metro theatre.[36] The earnings were donated to Casa de la Mujer de la Unión, an NGO advocating for women rights and against gender violence.[37]
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