58 | MAY 11 • 2023
ARTS&LIFE
THEATER
O
n the afternoon
of Sunday, May
21, National
Council of Jewish Women,
Michigan (NCJW|MI) will be
performing its fundraising
spring play, The Vagina
Monologues, for the second
time in its history.
The episodic play, written
by Eve Ensler in 1996
and which has now been
performed thousands of
times all over the world,
covers all aspects of the
feminine experience, from
sexual violence to body
image, reproduction, sexual
identity, genital mutation,
menstruation, prostitution,
sexual experiences and more.
The play’s various stories
are all told through the eyes
of women from different
backgrounds, ages and races.
While originally a
celebration of vaginas and
femininity, according to
Ensler, the play eventually
morphed into a global
activist movement to stop
violence against women: The
V-Day Movement.
NCJW|MI, a grassroots
community volunteer, voter
advocacy and social justice
organization dedicated
to improving the lives
of women, children and
families, performed the
play back in 2008. Now,
15 years later, with female
reproductive rights center
stage in U.S. politics, some
states banning abortions
from six-weeks of pregnancy,
along with legal efforts to
block previously approved
medical abortion drugs,
the 132-year-old nonprofit
organization thought it was
the perfect time to bring the
play back.
“Women and their
reproductive choices are
still under attack, and
reproductive freedom
remains an issue that is very
important to NCJW,”
said Sandi Matz, one of
the co-chairs of the play
committee and a past
president of NCJW|MI.
“This play is about women,
the choices they make and
how they are discriminated
against because of those
decisions. It’s as relevant
now, maybe even more so,
than it has ever been.”
NCJW|MI President
Sallyjo Levine said that
while Michigan women are
In defense of women’s reproductive
rights, NCJW|MI performs The Vagina
Monologues on May 21.
Thought-Provoking
Play
ALISON SCHWARTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
reproductive rights center
Melissa Kahn, Sandi Matz, Fran Grossman,
Judy Robinson, Mollene Levin, Sue Simon,
Sallyjo Levine, Edee Franklin, Jennifer LoPatin
and Terry Hollander will perform The Vagina
Monologues May 21 at Temple Shir Shalom.