Providence College cancels production of 'Vagina Monologues' play

Published: 2006-01-27

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (CNS) -- Providence College will not be presenting the play "The Vagina Monologues" this year, according to an announcement made by Dominican Father Brian Shanley, president of the college. The priest said the play, performed on several hundred college campuses around the country in mid-February, is not appropriate for a Catholic college campus "because its depiction of female sexuality is so deeply at odds with the true meaning and morality" of church teaching. For the past six years, colleges across the country, including Catholic schools, have been staging limited productions of "The Vagina Monologues" on or around Feb. 14 with students reading the script as part of a fundraising campaign called V-Day, which raises money for organizations working to stop violence against women. The play is based on more than 200 interviews by playwright Eve Ensler and features female characters as vaginas that speak out in a series of monologues. Production of the play on Catholic college campuses often raises questions and occasionally sparks protests.

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