Rape, abuse, intolerance toward women and uplifting, peculiar questions such as “if your vagina got dressed, what would it wear” are just a few issues addressed in The Vagina Monologues.

The show, which was created by Eve Ensler and premiered Off Broadway in 1996, will start at 8 tonight in the University Chapel and run through Sunday.

The Vagina Monologues is shown every year on college campuses across the United States as a part of V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women. The Athens event is produced by Project Safe, a local domestic violence shelter and all proceeds and donations benefit Project Safe.

“Eve Ensler developed the V-Day organization to end all violence against women. Period,” said Co-Director Hannah Long. “According to RAINN (www.rainn.org), one in six women will experience sexual assault in her lifetime. That’s an epidemic.

“Project Safe is a fantastic organization that does whatever is needed to help women and their children get out of violent households and establish themselves a new life. I am inspired by the work they do and am proud to be a small part of that process.”

The play was developed from a series of interviews with various women. It’s composed of a varying number of monologues and chorus-like list sections performed by various actors.

“Some individual pieces are based on one woman’s story, and others are pieced together from several interviews but written as one,” said Co-Director Erin McGinley. “When we cast the parts, we wanted to create a fresh, innovative presentation.”

She said the production wanted to cast women who surprised them with delivery.

“‘My Angry Vagina,’ for example, will be performed by two very young women, and together their piece seems almost like a stand-up comedy act,” she said.

Several of the cast members joined the production after having already viewed the work and have been rehearsing since early January.

“After seeing the show a couple of years ago, I was just struck by the power of the piece and the incredibly important message that it conveys,” performers in ‘My Short Skirt’ and part-time women’s studies instructor.

“When I saw the advertisement for auditions at UGA, I felt like it was something that I would really like to be a part of.”

Males shouldn’t be swayed by the topics such as “The Woman Who Liked to Make Vaginas Happy.”

“I would agree that the play is a feminist production,” McGinley said, “but since I also believe that everyone can call themselves a feminist, I still maintain that it is a show for
everyone.”

“It is a show for men and women that don’t know yet that they should be feminists. They will be by the end of the show – it’s just seductive like that.”

The more serious issues, such as rape and abuse, are performed in order to unite victims and caution women who have not experienced abuse.

“The Vagina Monologues sends an important message to women that they are not alone,” said Eleanor Pickard, performer and assistant producer.

“Whatever tragedy has befallen them, there are other women out there who have gone through the same thing and survived.”

Through both tears and laughter, the cast of The Vagina Monologues creates an atmosphere of unity.

“My favorite aspect of the play is the simple beauty of the words and the variety of voices,” McGinley said. “That’s what I have to say as a director – truthfully, I love that the show is so hilarious.”

She said laughing together bonds people more than crying together.

“The pockets of sadness in the show are all the more powerful when the audience feels this binding effect,” she said.