Captured in photos: ‘The Vagina Monologues’ at Berkeley
Valentine’s Day weekend brought a campus performance of “The Vagina Monologues” to life as a benefit for Bay Area non-profits working to end gender-based violence. It was put on by the student group V-Day at UC Berkeley. Kevin Ho Nguyen's photos capture the dress rehearsal.
Valentine’s Day weekend brought a campus performance of “The Vagina Monologues” to life as a benefit for Bay Area non-profits working to end gender-based violence.
During the week leading up to the “V-Day 2015 at UC Berkeley” show, NewsCenter photographer Kevin Ho Nguyen shot a series of photos of UC Berkeley students running through their lines in dress rehearsal.
“The Vagina Monologues,” which celebrates womanhood and sexuality in its diversity, complexity, and mystery and attacks the silence that surrounds rape and abuse, according to event organizers, the student group V-Day at UC Berkeley. It was based on interviews with hundreds of 200 women and has been performed all over the world.
Proceeds benefited A Safe Place: Domestic Violence Shelter, Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC), Women’s Daytime Drop In Center, Bay Area Women Against Rape (BAWAR), IGNITE and The Gender Equity Resource Center, according to the group.
All photos are by Kevin Ho Nguyen.
Junior Rosella Bearden performs "Spotlight: A call to arms for our movement, our revolution, V-Day."
Junior Paula Jaramillo performs "The Women Who Love to Make Vaginas Happy." about a sex worker.
Louise Tan, a junior, rehearses "Juarez," an account of the torture and murder of 300 women in the city of Juarez.
Junior Linda Vang performs "I Was There In the Room," which is playwright Eve Ensler's description of watching the birth of her granddaughter.
Farwah Sadat, a junior, rehearses "I Was So Glad," an original monologue about learning to love logically.
Senior Brenda Lopez, junior Stephanie Yun, grad student Emma Rouda and and senior Britt Baskerville perform "They Beat the Girl Out of Me or So They Tried."
Senior Jasmin Pañeda performs "Burn Survivor," an original piece about the difference between being called a victim and being called a survivor.
Senior Melissa Markowitz, sophomores Chonyi Lama and Patricia Williams and freshman Madeleine Karydes perform "I Was 12, My Mother Slapped Me."
Senior Giao Tran performs "Reclaiming ..." the C word. "It is beautiful. It is a word that holds power and strength, and it is our time to reclaim it."
Senior Faye Pon performs "My Angry Vagina," a rant about the various injustices vaginas are forced to face.
Juniors Alexandra Hernandez and Cailey Cotner and freshman Noemi Paez perform "Say List."
Josephine Yang, a junior, serves as the narrator, guiding and setting the tone for each performance.
