Published : Feb. 3, 2016 - 18:17
V-Day is returning to Daegu.
Daegu Theatre Troupe will be staging Eve Ensler’s “Vagina Monologues” on Feb. 13 and Feb. 14 to raise money for the Korea Unwed Mothers and Families Association.
V-Day is an event held each year to campaign to end violence against women and raise funds in aid of women’s causes, featuring Ensler’s play and other approved fund-raising performances. It has been marked by expats in several cities, but Daegu hasn’t had one in recent years.
DTT’s new artistic director Caitlin Semchuk, who acted in and directed productions of the monologues while a university student, saw the monologues as a chance to work for a good cause while rebuilding the troupe after many of its senior members had left the city.
“Hopefully it will introduce people to our troupe, but in itself it’s not a theatrical production, it’s more about activism. It’s about the women’s stories that you are telling,” she said, pointing out that V-Day discourages heavy-handed direction.
But for all the troupe’s outgoings, Semchuk said she was pleased to get 22 actresses for the show -- all new to the troupe and all based in Daegu. Each will be performing a different monologue.
All takings from the show will go to help KUMFA, which has a shelter for several families in Daegu.
“(The woman running the shelter) was looking for donations to essentially keep the lights on and we were so happy to be able to help her with this,” said Semchuk.
She added that they had held other fund-raisers, including a 1980s and ’90s dance night and a bake sale, which ended up particularly successful when they introduced their produce to a local Gaelic football team.
“A lot of the girls that are in the production are volunteers for the organization (KUMFA) as a whole. They do as many things as they can,” said Semchuk.
She hopes to show Korean subtitles during the performance to make it accessible for Korean viewers, and the troupe will also have raffles at the performances to raise extra money for KUMFA.
“We’ve put together some risque, fun, sexy prizes that people might add some extra money on so we are trying to get some donations for that,” said Semchuk.
The artistic director also expressed her appreciation of the local community’s generosity.
“Daegu community is a beautiful thing,” she said. “I don’t know what it is but they always donate way more than we ask for, which is really a beautiful thing.”
The performances will be at 7 p.m. on Feb. 13 and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Feb. 14 at Woojeon Theatre in Daegu.
Tickets are 10,000 won ($8.20) on the door. Reservations can be made via daegutheatre@gmail.com.
By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)