Contact: Kenneth Billings
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A group of Mississippi State students, faculty and staff will present a well-known and controversial theatrical production as part of an annual program to raise awareness about violence against women.
At 7 p.m., March 31, the university's Richard Holmes Cultural Diversity Center presents Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" and "A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, A Prayer."
While admission to the 7 p.m. program in Lee Hall auditorium is free to all, donations will be accepted to benefit the Rape Crisis Center in Columbus.
The cast of 18, including three men, will be performing "Monologues" as part of the annual campus observance of the "V-Day: Until the Violence Stops" campaign.
MSU's Student Counseling Services, gender studies academic program and Campus Activities Board are V-Day co-sponsors.
"This is an amazing vehicle to promote some very difficult issues, and it is an effective voice for many of the problems women face, such as domestic violence and sexual assault," said Holmes Center assistant director Shaz Akram. "The 'Monologues' highlight these issues; globally exposing what is happening to women.
"These are voices of ordinary women addressing some very real issues," added Akram, who is directing the production.
Founded by Ensler, an American playwright and activist in the late 1990s, V-Day is a global movement working to end violence against women and girls by raising funds and increasing public awareness.
For more about the program, contact Akram at 662-325-2033 or sakram@saffairs.msstate.edu.
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To learn more about V-Day and its campaigns, visit www.vday.org.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.