"Vagina Monologues" at Renton Civic Theatre Will Benefit King County Sexual Assault Resource Center

Starting this week, the will present two shows as a benefit for the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC)  in Renton.

"The Vagina Monologues: V-day Edition," will show on March 18 and 19 at 8 p.m., in addition to a special 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday.

The second play, "A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer: Writings to End Violence Against Women and Girls," will be presented on March 25 and 26 at 8 p.m., with a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee.

The Vagina Monologues is a series of monologues—based upon interviews with several hundred women—written by Eve Ensler. The play is meant to empower women and encourage discussion and thought around female sexuality, love and sex, rape, women’s health issues, and traumatic sexual experiences.

Rachel Sacks Bowen directs the plays, and runs the VaWa Sisterhood, a local organization dedicated to empowering women.

Jocelyn Campbell’s daughter, Emily Johnson, is in the play this year.

“It's such an empowering piece. After seeing several versions of the Monologues, including the DVD of Eve Ensler herself, I think Bowen's directing and the cast she chooses are all truly high caliber," she said.

Johnson has been in several versions of the play directed by Bowen.

The special V-Day edition is based upon the V-Day  nonprofit, global organization, that seeks to end violence against women. V-Day was incorporated in 1998. The organization started when after seeing the plays, women came up to Ensler and started reliving their stories of sexual abuse and/or violence.

Jenny Nelson, Director of Development with KCSARC said the shows touch on some sensitive issues.

“While the subject matter can be difficult to digest, we feel that the plays are important because they provide exposure to the topic.”