Rape and domestic violence take center stage this weekend as the "Vagina Monologues" is performed in Fine Arts Building Room 217 Friday and Saturday and the L.A. Pittenger Student Center Ballroom on Sunday. All shows start at 8 p.m. and the cost is $7. Profits are donated to A Better Way and the International V-Day Organization.
According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, one in three women around the world has been abused, forced into sexual activity or beaten within her lifetime.
Senior Aruna Kumaran said she hopes the "Vagina Monologues" will bring the issues of rape and domestic violence to the audience members.
"Vagina Monologues" is performed in part to facilitate discussion among women and provide a forum to express themselves and get in touch with how they feel about their sexuality, Kumaran said.
The performance also incorporates non-domestic violence issues that women might face on an everyday basis, she said.
One of the first issues brought up in the show is a disagreement between a wife and a husband about whether or not the woman should shave her pubic hair, Kumaran said.
"It focuses on the small things that women deal with on an everyday basis ... they feel like their lives are infringed upon because society pushes them to fit into a mold," she said.
Self-proclaimed male feminist director Mike Messer said the show is geared toward both men and women, and the word vagina should not be feared.
"I figure by being a man I know I can bring something completely different to the show," Messer said. "'Vagina Monologues' isn't just about women empowerment, it's about feminists' empowerment."
His directorial debut, Messer said the hardest part of the production was the audition process.
Actors include traditional and nontraditional students, Messer said.
The cast supplies their own costumes and, in many cases, also contribute items to the set in order to keep production costs down, Kumaran said.
Last year, because of low production costs and high ticket sales, Ball State's performance of "Vagina Monologues" was able to donate approximately $6,000 to A Better Way and the International V-Day Organization, Kumaran said.
However, the production had issues finding a venue this year and Kumaran said she is concerned ticket sales, the main source of revenue, will be effected.
Kumaran said the cast and crew of the show were resilient throughout the process of changing venues.
"We stuck it out," she said. "The girls in the show are great and the director is great and we made things work as best as we can."
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