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.