Twenty years ago, Eve Ensler’s play The Vagina Monologues gave birth to V-DAY, a global activist movement to end violence against all women and girls (cisgender, transgender and gender non-conforming). The play and the playwright exploded onto the scene, garnering headlines and rave reviews, filling the theater night after night, breaking taboos, opening spaces for dialogue where they hadn’t existed before, and shattering the silence around women’s experiences with sexuality and violence.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of The Vagina Monologues and V-DAY and to celebrate, One Billion Rising and V-Day are calling on activists in London to Rise, Resist, and Unite for a special evening at Café De Paris.
V20 London Rising is an Artistic UpRising. It’s a celebration of The Vagina Monologues, V-DAY and One Billion Rising, as well as an honoring of the amazing revolutionary work of One Billion Rising activists and artists around the world. The evening will be an artistic event boldly fusing music, theatre, dance, poetry, movement, and film in an exciting night of creatively subversive, beautiful, sensual, provocative and powerful performance art celebrating women.
The evening will also be a creative resistance Rising like no other, urgently needed in these times of escalating violence in every sphere – from violence towards young women and girls – which has escalated One Billion Rising Youth Risings globally – to workers and refugees and all displaced people, as well as the tremendous desecration now of our beloved Mother Earth. The time is now, to keep building, fostering, nurturing, and inspiring real, powerful solidarity amongst all movements. And to keep creating art as forms of rebellion, disruption, celebration and hope. Art that calls on us all to Rise for love and life.
Join Eve, V-Day Board Member Thandie Newton* and One Billion Rising Global Director Monique Wilson along with an astounding line up of artists and activists from the UK, US, Congo, Croatia, India and the Philippines to celebrate the pioneering achievements of the last 20 years. This Artistic UpRising also features Vocalist KARIN BELLO, Women from the LONDON CAPOEIRA COMMUNITY, UK multi-platform artist, singer, musician, actress, songwriter RIAH KNIGHT, dance group LAHING KAYUMANGGI doing the Philippine indigenous “Banga” fierce warrior women dance, THE ALPACAS- a London based multi-national pop rock band with members coming from Romania, Mexico, UK and Japan, International Circus Artists led by JACKIE LE – doing aerial acrobatic performances in silk and hoop duo, and the MONAMAN THEATRE COMPANY – an international theatre company based in London led by Greek born actresses who do devised work that alter and defy all traditional theatrical rules. Igniting the dancing for the evening will be one of the world’s most in-demand and top female DJ’s DJ PHILLY with her trademark Hip Hop, R’nB’ and House music.
The evening also features several grand flash mobs of the One Billion Rising theme song “Break The Chain” as well as the One Billion Rising Tilburg, Netherlands original dance/song “We Are Beautiful” – featuring over 50 international actors from the East 15 Acting School as well as West End actors, who will be joined by women refugees and women workers from Voice of Domestic Workers.
The evening is produced by New Voice Company (UK) Limited, Rossana Abueva/One Billion Rising UK Coordinator and V-Day/One Billion Rising.
Tickets are £36.00 www.onebillionrising.org/londonrising
