ONE BILLION RISING RVA
V-Day Richmond 2013 presents a benefit production of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues"
V‑Day Richmond 2013 presents a benefit reading of Eve Ensler’s award wining play The Vagina Monologues at Dogtown Dance Theatre on April 26 and 27, 2013 at 7:30 pm. With humor and grace the piece celebrates women's sexuality and strength though a collection of shorts and monologues inspired from interviews with hundreds of women about their views on sex, relationships, and violence against women. Tickets $20.00 at www.vsdvalliance.org or call: 804.377.0335. Tickets will be available for sale by 3/22/2013.
More information on FaceBook at: https://www.facebook.com/VDayRVA?fref=ts
Denise Bennett tells stories, sings and plays the harp in schools, libraries, retirement communities, churches, and festivals. She also listens to stories as part of her work as a chaplain in a retirement community. Denise performed her one woman show, “The Heart’s True Scale” as part of V-Day/One Billion Rising events this year. She is delighted and grateful to be in The Vagina Monologues. It has been a profoundly heart opening experience. Deep thanks to Susan Singer, Julie Willard and always to Jim Bennett for his faith, love and support through almost 30 years of marriage.years of marriage.
Denise Bennett
Hi, I'm Beth, and I am so honored to be representing Richmond in The Vagina Monologues! I am a mother of two great children and a grandmother of four adorable little ones
I am not an actress, nor do I have any training or education in theatre. In fact, I am a Certified Massage Therapist. It is my greatest pleasure to help people heal-both physically and emotionally..You see, massage is not only great for the body and muscles, but also for the mind...it can help relieve anxiety and stress too! However, that is not all that I am. I am a survivor first and foremost. It has been a painful road to recovery, but if by representing Richmond in Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues, I can help even one little girl, one child, one woman escape her own personal Hell, to learn to heal, to love herself, it will all have been worth it. I am so very fortunate to have fallen into a wonderful group of people who have the tools to help other victims become survivors, and soon I hope to become an advocate, and be able give the support that could make a difference. Thank you Eve, for your worldwide efforts to free women everywhere from all types of abuse. It is an honor to be here.
Brenda Moore is thrilled to be making her Richmond theater debut in The Vagina Monologues! She would like to thank the amazing cast for making this such a wonderful and empowering experience. She is a left brained geek that is totally enjoying letting her right brain play and explore in the Richmond theater, TV and film community. Some advice from my vagina and many vaginas everywhere: When the vagina says “No!” Listen to it!
Dawn Flores is a painter, photographer, writer, actress and dancer. Constantly striving to realize her full creative potential and empowering others to do the same through her teaching, writing, performing, and by collaborating with, and mentoring, other artists. She teaches painting at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Goddess Dance at Unity of Richmond. She is one of the original and principle organizers for Susan Singer's highly successful performance series Beyond Barbie. She is author of the play, Circle of Mysteries/ The Word, The Song, The Dance with Christin Lore Weber and Alisa Fineman; and she is author of The Juno Cards, a deck of cards designed to raise consciousness, to be used alone or within a group for support.
Moved from Johannesburg, South Africa to the US with her 2 children in 1998.
Involved in amateur theatre in Johannesburg, and sang the bass part in a 4 part Sweet Adeline choir.
Selected as background talent in Steven Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’, and acted as a stand-in for Ms. Sally Fieldsfor a day. Extra in iPreeti, a Bollywood feature film to be released in India. Volunteer at a local radiostation, part time model and a PA. Organized some music and performance benefits to aid villagers inSouth Sudan in life improvement projects. We were able to build a well in South Sudan – very exciting.
IT professional with many years of very diverse experience in that field.
Working with the wonderful cast and director of the Vagina Monologues has been fun, intense and extremely rewarding. The messages of the monologues are relevant and meaningful. I’m thrilled to be apart of this magnificent production. I hope the audience enjoys it as much as the cast has!
Emma Browning is an eccentric person of eclectic tastes. She was first bitten by the acting bug when she was 3 years old when she was cast in her first film as an extra.
Ever since that day she has been involved in film and theatre. Emma double majored in Theatre Arts and Anthropology with a concentration in archaeology with a minor in French. After graduation Emma moved to England to pursue a graduate degree in Bioarchaeology. Apart from acting, Emma has several other interests that range
from scuba diving with sharks, instructing zumba classes to designing greeting cards for her new company Eclecticity.
PS. Vaginas are awesome and so is this play
Carol O. Dunlap brings virtually no acting experience in her performance of The Flood but as a frustrated comedian she loves to make people laugh. As a professional social worker she has worked with vagina owners in many capacities including domestic violence, homeless, and child sexual abuse programs. She is passionate in her advocacy for ending and addressing domestic violence and sexual abuse in all of its manifestations. As a vagina owner herself, she believes that no vagina or penis owner is safe until are all safe.
Tiffany Lee is a native of the Bronx, NY who relocated to Virginia to pursue a degree in Social Work at Virginia State University. It was there she was first introduced to The Vagina Monologues starring as "The Angry Vagina" in 2006. Tiffany is currently employed as a Social Services Coordinator at the Crisis Assistance Response Emergency Shelter, Inc. in Petersburg, VA. Tiffany loves acting as a hobby and is currently an actress and poet on the cast of "Lyric Ave", a multi-talented group of poets, actors, comedians and musicians who perform at The Historic Hippodrome Theatre in Richmond, VA. Not only does Tiffany love to act, she is passionate about advocating for women and children who have been victims of violence and helping them to become survivors!
Emma Browning
Beth Covington
Gail Dickens
Carol O. Dunlap
Samantha Kittle
Brenda Moore
Dawn Flores
Donna says that her participation in The Vagina Monologues has given her a new and humble respect for vaginas everywhere! In “real life” Donna’s passion is art in all of its forms. She has never met a museum, a play or a concert that she didn’t love (well – almost). Donna’s moment of stardom came when she stood alongside Ann Bancroft and Demmi Moore in a scene from GI Jane. Sadly, Donna’s image ended up on the cutting room floor, but the momentary stardom remains a vivid memory. Donna continues to practice her push-ips daily to be at-the-ready for the hoped for GI Jane 2. Donna’s new mantra is “Where there is a Vagina, There is Hope!”
Tiffany Lee
Samantha is pleased to return to the Richmond stage with such a talented group of women. She holds a degree from Guilford College in both Theatre Studies and Women's Studies. Favorite roles at Guilford include Li'l Bit in How I Learned to Drive and Beth in Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind. This is also the title of her awesome blog about living with a brain tumor. Please visit her website! www.alieofthemind.com. Special thanks to Julie Willard for assembling this cast of strong powerful women.
Donna Fuller
Samantha Robinson
Shannon Rodriguez
Making her Richmond debut, we have Samantha Robinson, a full time hairstylist and part time actress. Samantha would like to take this opportunity to thank Julie Willard and the entire cast for making her feel so very welcome and inspired. Special thanks to Daniel Wheeler without whom she would not have the support or confidence to be living her dream.
A force of a woman, Shannon is a native Virginian and VCU alumnus. Shannon is a long time supporter of vagina and women's rights. She aspires to be a strong voice of bruised lips through activism and volunteerism.
Lynn Taylor
Lynn Taylor brings absolutely no acting experience to the Vagina Monologues. She auditioned because her friend thought it would be fun. Lynn feels honored to have the opportunity to speak for vaginas. She wants all vaginas, big and small, to know they have a voice and to let it be heard.
At home she has two young daughters who are very proud. They just hope this doesn’t lead to momma being an adult porn star.
Taylor Benett
Taylor Bennett still a student at Goochland high school, thinks the word vagina is funny. She may be shy at times but once you get her talking, she won't shut up and use accents that she can't even understand. Snort like a pig or sound like a cow, life is fun and ultimately surprising
Meet The Cast!
Julie Willard is an advocate, an activist, and an artist. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University, and as a volunteer with the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance and Safe Harbor, as well as one of the lead organizers of One Billion Rising RVA, she has found her true calling in merging art and healing and will be pursuing a Masters of Arts in Expressive Therapies: Drama Therapy with a Specialization in Mental Health Counseling this fall at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is so proud to be returning to V-Day Richmond as Artistic Director of The Vagina Monologues and honored to have had the opportunity to work with this amazing cast.
Special Guest Performer, Friday, April 26th
Heather Bailey
I am a performing artist, currently exploring the air. I have an extensive resume in acting for film tv and theater. I love to dance, and collaborate with other artists.
About the Director
Julie Willard
A Big Thank You To Our Sponsors!
