By Frankie Farrar-Helm/entertainment editor
For the fifth year, the NE drama program will hold a benefit performance for the Battered Women’s Foundation of Hurst.
The evening of women-themed performances by students and faculty will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 in the NE theater.
“The themes are subject matters from the tragic to the redemptive,” said Julie Gale, NE drama instructor who helped coordinate the event. “We do pieces about abuse, homelessness and celebrating or triumphing a difficult situation.”
It started five years ago when college campuses and organizations held a “V-day Celebrations” based on The Vagina Monologues and usually scheduled it on Valentine’s Day weekend, Gale said.
The NE event was based originally on reading the monologues but is now performed as a variety of pieces including some of the monologues. The evening will feature a variety of dance, music, poetry, song and stand-up comedy. Some pieces are original work written and sometimes published by faculty.
Gale said the pieces aren’t limited to a positive side. They show both the darkness and the light.
In conjunction with GO! Incorporated, a San Antonio-based non-profit organization that helps less fortunate people in multiple countries, NE drama has raised nearly $65,000 in the five years it has hosted the event, Gale said.
The proceeds provide the Battered Women’s Foundation of Hurst with food, clothing, basic essentials such as soap and toilet paper, equipment and any materials needed to operate. The money also helps fund special children’s programs like summer camps and computer learning programs and to help them have materials for school.
“We’ve worked with GO! Incorporated for five years,” said Stephen Thomas, NE drama assistant professor. “I have an open heart for battered women, and it’s a pleasure to have an organization to help them in our backyard.”
Laura Mahon, NE drama technical director, said her contribution as a performer is far deeper than her helping students with the event.
Mahon dedicates her performance every year to her younger sister who was killed during a carjacking in 1991.
“In the bigger sense, I want to contribute to stopping violence against women locally, nationally and globally,” Mahon said. “I want women to be proud of their bodies, feel empowered to have control of their lives and get help when they need it.”
NE drama faculty members want not only a full house but an audience that hears what they are saying and people who can give more donations, Mahon said.
Attendance requires a $10 donation benefiting the foundation. No reservation is needed. Guests will pay at the door.
