March 18, 2009
 Listen closely to a story of empowerment. See a study in individuality. Hear a song of survival and perseverance. Join in a celebration of women.
The Vagina Monologues is all of these things and much more. An Obie Award-winning episodic play written by Eve Ensler, the performance is comprised of a varying number of monologues read by several different women. A recurring theme throughout the piece “is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality.” Since its inception, The Vagina Monologues has become the centerpiece of “V-Day,” a global campaign that has raised more than $50 million for women’s anti-violence groups through benefit performances.
On Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20, the women of Temple University Ambler presented a rallying cry to stop the violence against women as they presented their own benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues to packed houses in the Learning Center Auditorium.
While the performance were free and open to the public, donations were graciously accepted for the following organizations: the Temple University Health Education and Awareness Resource Team (HEART), which includes SACE (Sexual Assault Counseling Education); the Women’s Center of Montgomery County, and Laurel House. In total $850 in donations was raised.
“Every year, a performance of The Vagina Monologues has been held at Main Campus; we worked hard with HEART to also bring it to Ambler this year. The goal is basically to tell the stories of women — a discussion and celebration of situations and experiences related to their vaginas, which, in turn is meant to open everyone’s eyes to the damage that is being perpetrated against women,” said Dr. Wanda Lewis-Campbell, Assistant Dean for Student Life. “It’s not male bashing by any means; it’s all about understanding. Ultimately, we want our audience to understand the need to get involved to stop the violence against women. People say they want to make a difference, but in order to affect change, they have to do more than just say it.”
Under the direction of Dr. Lewis-Campbell, 12 performers — a mix of students, faculty, and staff at Ambler — took on a variety of the personas created by Ensler and based on true stories.
 “Every person that auditioned was part of the performance and I’ve been truly impressed with the level of talent on display. I’m very pleased with the fact that these were not trained actresses — they stretched themselves and, in many cases, went well beyond their comfort zones to bring their characters to life and have a true impact on the audience,” she said. “We had one young lady from China who has only been in the United States for two years who took her role and just nailed it. Our actresses really embraced what they were doing and provided truly wonderful performances.”
Anna Emore, Student Government Association Vice President of Academic Affairs, was encouraged by Dr. Lewis-Campbell to audition. While she had never done anything like this before, she said, she wanted to support the important anti-violence message that is presented.
“Through these monologues, we portrayed different female sexual experiences, both good and bad. Many of the monologues are funny, but some, unfortunately, are just the opposite — we have to be able to talk about these issues openly and honestly,” she said. “I think the fact that we are not all professional actresses brings a uniqueness and realness to the program. We are real people who want to express other women’s stories — I try to imagine what the woman who my part is based on had been feeling, and I try to not only be her but to understand what she is saying and what her experience is portraying.”
Emore played two roles in the performance.
“In one monologue the woman is not comfortable with herself, until she meets a man who changes her whole view around in one night! In the other monologue, the woman talks about different experiences she has had at different ages in her life; her experiences are innocent, funny, sad, painful, and outrageous,” she said. “I hope the audience got the same thing from the performances that I have; a knowledge of some things that happen to women that they may never have heard about or talked about before. I think a lot of people were thinking ‘I know exactly what she is talking about!’”
Claudia Bereshnyi of the Ambler Campus Admissions Office, played a “proper” British woman “coming into” her age.
“The piece revolves her very vital ‘discovery’ of her vagina and thus herself. This piece, to me, was much more far reaching then just a woman and her vagina. It is about a woman finding her worth, her spirit and essentially, herself,” she said. “We want to raise awareness about the multitude of challenges that women encounter every day. It’s a very, very inclusive performance because all of the actors are, essentially, there for a very specific purpose — to honor women!”
Bereshnyi’s hope for what the audience took away from their Vagina Monologues performance is simple yet poignant.
“Reverence, thoughtfulness, and heartfelt appreciation for women,” she said.
For more information on The Vagina Monologues at Temple University Ambler, contact the Office of Student Life at 267-468-8425. For more information on the history of The Vagina Monologues and the V-Day campaign, visit www.vday.org.
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