“I decided it is better to scream. Silence is the real crime against humanity.” - Nadezhda Mandelstam, Hope Against Hope Eve Ensler probably had no idea what would become of asking women to talk about their vaginas. What she got was an untapped market of women whose experiences had been shut down, shut up and shut away. From screamers to floods, the voices of women tumble with eagerness, shyness, anger and power from the pages of her book and into the minds of audiences everywhere. With the live adaptation of the play, Ensler had the opportunity for even broader audiences to experience this type cast literature in a different light, despite ‘feminist’ becoming a dirty word in some present cultural circles. Orgasms, childbirth, periods, politics, and herstory are just a few of the subjects that are touched on in this hour and a half of very raw emotion. The live Vagina Monologues has become something of a cult following yearly in most major cities, and here in Calgary the dynamic duo of Marsha Ellen Meidow and Shone Abet have done it again, bringing the performance back for another year. The play itself always takes the opportunity to allow local women to make the first step as performers. At the auditions, organizers look for those brave few for whom this experience will bring the most growth. The 15-20 women who are chosen are given stories from the book to interpret and bring to an audience. This gives every night a new flavor as these women unfold tales from every walk of life, age, and shyness. These women are your nurses, your bus drivers, your construction workers, your mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, nieces and wives. These stories are not isolated and neither is the awareness raised. Violence against women is real, at home and abroad, and needs to be dealt with to ensure that things continue to change for the better. Men have always been invited and encouraged to attend. The reactions afterwards are always positive. This is often a learning experience that opens lines of communication, even if it starts with laughter. Once again the event will be benefiting the YWCA’s Safe Haven program, “Getting young girls off the streets ad back to their lives.“ We live in a very conservative city where teenage prostitution is not seriously addressed. There is nothing more dangerous than being invisible, and to the girls and women who have gone through the program or have yet complete it, compassion and support counts for everything. Organizers are hoping to raise $30,000 towards the much needed program this year. Recently Eve Ensler came to the defense of several girls in a US high school who read a section of the vagina monologues as a class project and were suspended for uttering the word vagina. The argument on behalf of the school is that the word is inappropriate. The girl’s defense stems from the word’s origin as a simple body part not shunned in any biology class, but received a negative reaction when used as an empowering symbol. Situations like these expose bias against women’s sexuality and identity. How are women ever going to find comfort in their own bodies if the medical terms for simple body parts are considered taboo? Another example of this was demonstrated by a Vagina Monologues reading in Texas, which had to be labeled the ”woo-haw” monologues as “vagina” was deemed too offensive. That is everything this play serves to fight against. V-day is approaching. Get ready for it. The Vagina Monologues Max Bell Theater in EPCOR Center, Calgary March 20th -22nd Tickets: $25 Available through Ticketmaster   www.ticketmaster.ca