UC students perform ‘The Vagina Monologues’ to benefit center

A series of interviews about women's sexual encounters, realizations and survival stories will be performed over the weekend by UC Merced students as part of a benefit for the Valley Crisis Center.

“The Vagina Monologues“ focuses on womanhood and “highlighting how being a woman and having a vagina is not limiting,” said Yesenia Curiel, director of UC Merced CARE-Campus Advocacy.

“There is a lot of focus on resilience, empowerment and healing,” she added. “Women can unite and share common womanhood issues together through this production.”

Some of the stories will make the audience laugh and others are more serious, organizing officials said.

“People should come open minded and also be willing to push their limits of how they see womanhood,” Curiel said.

Oftentimes women who experience any type of oppression or sexual assault isolate themselves, Curiel said, and this show “highlights how important it is for women to talk about these topics and share it in an open forum.”

The performances will be in the Lakireddy Auditorium at UC Merced on Friday night at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 3 p.m.; and Sunday at 5 p.m.

Tickets are $5 and all proceeds go to the Valley Crisis Center, a nonprofit that provides services to people affected by sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking.

“This is a show that has an impact on all of us,” Curiel said. “We all know men and women who have been impacted by this.”

Tickets can be purchased at www.intelforms.ucmerced.edu/Form/Vagina_Monologue. For parking information contact VOICES@ucmerced.edu.

As they are available, tickets will be sold at the door, Curiel said, but she advises people to call in advance to make sure they’re not sold out. Curiel can be reached at 209-233-1746.

This story was originally published April 26, 2017 at 5:07 PM with the headline "UC students perform ‘The Vagina Monologues’ to benefit center."