- Mo - psychologist and sports-therapist-in-training
- Imathiu - HR professional, farmer and builder
- Hana - project management consultant
- Kijo - singer
- Nana - philanthropist and realtor
- Nini - acting coach and farmer
- Patricia - artist
- Savane - pr consultant
- Shazz - interior designer
- Wacango - educator
- Lorraine - language teacher
- Shiviske - actress
- Carol - journalist
- Nyawara - actress
- Ruby - filmmaker
- Pauline - actress
- Ayomide - consultant
- Mumbi - playwright/actor
- June - lawyer/singer
The Vagina Monologues is Back on 25th April 2019 at Kenya National Theatre
20th March, 2019 at 11:25AM
The Vagina Monologues 2019 will be staged at the Kenya National Theatre (KNT) on 25th April. The Vagina Monologues is a play written by Eve Ensler in 1998 after interviewing 200 women from around the world.The New York Times described the rousing monologues, as the most important piece of political theatre of the last decade. Since then, the play has been performed in theatres and campuses in various countries worldwide.Each of the monologues deals with an aspect of the feminine experience, touching on matters such as sex, sex work, body image, love, rape, menstruation, female genital mutilation, masturbation, birth, orgasm, the various common names for the vagina or simply as a physical aspect of the body.In Kenya, Mumbi Kaigwa, an award-winning, actor first produced the script for local audiences in 2003. Since then, she has taken charge of the show in various capacities, producing and directing it in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2013 and 2017. She has also sometimes performed the monologues with the rest of the cast. In 2018, Karen Lucas directed the show while Mumbi produced it.This year, Mumbi Kaigwa will direct the show. In Margaretta wa Gacheru's review of the 2018 production, she described it as one that "fostered and fuelled a fierce sense of sisterhood...that is blessed and beautiful...capturing the true meaning of feminism''The monologues are drawn from Eve Ensler's book, published in 1998. However, no one is permitted to adapt the play, and the show is performed as written by the author (Eve Ensler), with precise instructions for production given yearly to the global communities which produce benefit performances. Each year as part of V-Day - an offshoot of Vagina Monologues dedicated to spreading awareness on the violence of women and girls - a new monologue is added depending on the particular issue on 'The Spotlight' that year. Previous monologues have been on the acid attacks on women in Pakistan or the stripping of women deemed to be 'indecently dressed'.This year, the spotlight is on women in prisons and detention centres and formerly incarcerated women. The show will support Come Together Women and Orphans, an NGO started by Dianah Kamande who survived a murder attempt from her husband who later killed himself.Proceeds from the Kenyan editions have supported Dianah and her organisation for three years. In 2017, Dianah used the funds for civic education, managing to empower 15 widows to run for political office - all of whom were nominated for MCA. In 2018, using funds raised from the show and with the help of Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs, she catalouged 4 million widows from across the country and started a table banking scheme for the widows in the organisation. This year, as part of her 5-year plan, she intends to use the funds to construct a domestic violence shelter in Juja and set up greenhouses for the women to start farming.On whether the monologues are customised for the Kenyan context, Mumbi Kaigwa states, "The book guides the show but over the years, Eve has been asking the community to create monologues around the issue on the spotlight that are specific to their geographical area. We are planning to work with women who were formerly in prison to create a monologue and have some of them in the cast. Additionally, we hope to hold a show in the prisons and perform for the women there.''Performers of the benefit performances are from all walks of life and have included radio presenters, lawyers, businesswomen, philanthropists, interior designers, educators, executives, and nominated Members of Parliament.So far, the cast members for The Vagina Monologues 2019 are;
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