The Womyn's Action Coalition will present, for the first time at Geneseo, A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer.
The play, which was compiled and edited by Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues, will replace WAC's yearly production of The Vagina Monologues. The shows are performed in commemoration of V-Day, a global movement headed by Ensler to stop violence against women and girls.
The three performances this weekend in the Knightspot will raise money for Chances and Changes, a local battered women's shelter.
A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer, published in 2007, portrays women's experiences with violence in a series of monologues contributed by a number of authors such as Ensler, Alice Walker and Edward Albee.
The show digresses from the playful spirit of The Vagina Monologues and promotes a message that's more serious and emotionally intense.
The new, relatively unheard-of collection takes a more direct step in not only raising the awareness of violence against women but also by giving an individual voice to the women who have survived such experiences. Each monologue represents a true story.
"These writings are inspired, funny, angry, heartfelt, tragic and beautiful," according to the vday.org Web site review. "But above all, together they create a true and profound portrait of this issue's effect on every one of us."
The show is directed by senior Dana LePage and will star seniors Sheila McGrane, Meaghan Colligan and Meredith Feary, sophomores Allison Sass, Jessica Wade, Jillian Smith, Ronnia Girgis, Chantel Helbig and Vanessa Kahen, juniors Alyssa Kostiner and Shazia Sohrawardy. Performances are Feb. 14-16 at 7 p.m.
Tickets will be sold in the Union lobby from Feb. 14-16 or at the door.