A diverse team of Cornellians is bringing Eve Ensler’s work “The Vagina Monologues” to life with an innovative performance scheduled for Saturday, March 7 at 8 p.m. in Bailey Hall.

While Cornell students have performed selected monologues from Ensler’s Obie-award winning play for the past eight years, this year’s production is unique in the way it has been directed and executed.

The cast will perform two monologues that have for years been optional but this year are required for every production of the play, said director Aleksej Aarsaether ’17. One, “They Beat the Girl out of my Boy…or so They Tried,”  "strings the stories of five transgender women into one monologue about the confusion, fear and violence trans people face as they transition," he said. "The stories of trans women cannot continue to be unheard. I hope that the way I directed this monologue makes the audience really pay attention to the words of trans people that are too often ignored."

Additionally, members of the cast will perform “My Short Skirt,” which addresses blaming sexual assault victims, a problem particularly relevant on college campuses.

As a male director who aspires to be a professional director, Aarsaether has a unique approach to the material. He has transformed the monologues into “a highly visual work,” he said. Additionally, the cast will be performing certain parts in various languages, helping to convey the universality of the experience discussed in a unique way.

Aarsaether said, “Throughout the process we are being activists together, understanding the social contexts of the monologues.”

For this to happen, he needed to listen throughout the production process to the voices of the performers. “Before any rehearsal started, we took the time to discuss each monologue and the performers expressed what they felt was most important to convey to the audience,” he said.

“The first time we read through the monologues, every single one of us sat in a giant circle on the floor. Reading the beautiful, terrifying and hilarious stories as a powerful women in the room reading through created a wonderful buzz of excitement and anticipation in me,” said Lauren Parker ’15.

“We’re hoping to break down the sex-negative culture that perpetuates taboos and secrecy surrounding sexuality, vaginas, women’s pleasure and sexual violence,” said Parker.

Carrie Pascale ’17, a performer in this year’s production said, “I’m excited for the audience to experience the raw emotion conveyed in some of the monologues. I got chills watching them during rehearsals.”

“The Vagina Monologues” cast also hopes their message provokes conversation. “I expect, or hope, that people will talk about what they see on stage. So the show will not serve as one singular event, but rather as an engaging, thought-provoking addition to our conversations about the female experience,” Pascale said.

Tickets  for “The Vagina Monologues” can be purchased at www.baileytickets.com for $10 in advance or $12 at the door. All proceeds from the Cornell production go to the Ithaca Advocacy Center, which supports survivors of sexual violence.

The show is sponsored by the Cornell Women’s Resource Center, part of the Dean of Students Office of Community and Student Support and funded in part by the Student Assembly.

Abigail Warren ’15 is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.