For two nights only this week, historic cabaret nightclub Checkinn99 will host an all-volunteer performance of The Vagina Monologues – an important and controversial play on the different aspects of womanhood.
Produced by Bangkok Rising, a local community of activists for gender issues, the performances will be held on the 24th and 25th March 2016, with doors opening at 6pm and the performance starting at 7pm.
Checkinn99 is located between Sukhumvit Sois 5 and 7 in the Nana neighbourhood.
All proceeds from the performances will be donated to House of Refuge; a rehabilitation and education organisation for young girl survivors of violence, located in Chiang Rai Thailand. A previous Vagina Monologues production by Bangkok Rising a couple of years ago saw over ฿100,000 raised for the cause.
Bangkok has been described many times as a man’s town with no shortage of entertainment choices. The same cannot always be said for the sisterhood of the city, however. But progress is evident and there is a growing population of female expats living in the City of Angels; gone are the days of the stereotypical Bangkok expat.
We recently met with one such female expat at Hemingway’s Restaurant and Bar in Bangkok: 29 years old, married, she is the driving force behind the 22 cast members who devote their time, energy, and camaraderie in the course of rehearsing and performing for the Eve Ensler written episodic play The Vagina Monologues.
First performed at the Here Arts Center in New York City in 1996 and shortly thereafter at the Off-Broadway Westside Theatre, it has since been performed around the world hundreds of times. Ms. Ensler interviewed over 200 women in dozens of countries while researching and writing it, ensuring a richly diverse portfolio of female experience from which to draw.
The Vagina Monologues is a must-see evening guaranteed to shock, possibly move you to tears and definitely make you laugh. It’s been called euphoric, inspirational and for some women, transformational. Each of the monologues deals with a different and unique aspect of the feminine experience, touching on matters such as sex, love, rape, masturbation, menstruation, orgasm, birth and various vagina monikers.
Both the expat we met at Hemingway’s and the whole cast of The Vagina Monologues are all active volunteers in Bangkok Rising, which describes itself as a volunteer organization of activists for women’s issues, particularly the elimination of violence against women and girls, and gender equality. For more information about Bangkok Rising, see their Facebook page.
While the focus of The Vagina Monologues is undoubtedly those issues that pertain to women, it’s a play seen and enjoyed by men and women alike all over the world. For innovative entrepreneurs Chris and Mook Catto Smith at Checkinn99, it’s another great artistic event to add to their roster.
Tickets are ฿300 each and can be pre-booked by emailing info@bangkokrising.com. Tickets for Friday 25th March are already sold out and are going quickly for the Thursday 24th March performance.
