ARTS & CULTURE
36
Gwangju Vagina Monologues:
APRIL 2016
V
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
Five Years Strong
As part of Ensler’s V-Day and One Billion Rising campaign, performers also stage a flash mob to raise awareness about ending violence against women. The proceeds from fundraisers and ticket sales have been donated to local charities that help Korean and foreign women and children in Gwangju.
-Day, a global project to raise awareness and bring attention to women’s issues, is entering its fifth performance year in Gwangju.
In April 2012, American performer, writer and women’s rights activist Eve Ensler’s 1996 play The Vagina Monologues had its first Gwangju performance at the now-defunct Kunsthall Theater in downtown. Since then, members of the foreigner-run Gwangju Performance Project have worked with local theaters to continue staging an annual performance.
By Vagina Monologues Gwangju
The 2015 performance, ‘A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer,’ a longer offshoot of the first play, was the first production to include male performers. This year, the Gwangju Vagina Monologues reverts back to the original script and an all-female cast. It brings together its largest production team yet, with five organizers and twenty cast members, each performing a monologue piece. Ynell Lumantao, who has performed in the play since 2013 and made her directorial debut for last year’s performance, returns as director this year. “This is my fourth year, so imagine how empowered I am now,” Lumantao said. “Imagine if we have a lot of women like us, feeling the way we feel right now.” Co-organizers echoed her sentiment in hoping the performance would inspire others to join the production.