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  FANCY LIVING MAGAZINE. OCTOBER 2005. Page 92

AROUND THE WORLD

THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES OUTRAGE THE WORLD!!

Stars mark women's day in India

Actresses Jane Fonda and Marisa Tomei marked International Women's Day by staging a performance of The Vagina Monologues in India.

Jane Fonda with actress Dolly Thakore and playwright Eve Ensler

Oona King MP, Tamara Beckwith and Joan Ruddock MP Photo1: 1. Fonda (left) said violence affected women all over the world.

2. MPs Oona King (left) and Joan Ruddock (right) with socialite Tamara Beckwith

The show was set up by the V-Day Foundation, a charity run by Monologues author Eve Ensler which raises awareness of violence against women. Indian and Pakistani actresses joined the show in Bombay, also called Mumbai. "Violence comes in many forms and affects women all over the world," Fonda said after the performance. Fonda, 66, said she had had to take a back seat in each of her three marriages. "Behind the closed doors of my marriage, I would give up all my power. I would silence my own voice to be accepted," she said. "My whole life was about pleasing my man." Fonda's last marriage was to Ted Turner, the billionaire media mogul who set up satellite TV service CNN. They married in 1991 but divorced 10 years later. Tomei said it had been a liberating experience performing the play in the US. "It's important to honour the point of view of the other half of the population and hear the voices of those who are not normally heard," she said. In the UK, a group of Labour MPs are also staging a performance of the play at London's Criterion Theatre on Monday. Labour's Oona King (Bethnal Green and Bow), Caroline Flint (Don Valley), Margaret Moran (Luton South), Linda Gilroy (Plymouth Sutton) and Joan Ruddock (Deptford), Tory Caroline Spelman (Meriden) and Liberal Democrat Sandra Gidley (Romsey) have been rehearsing in the Houses of Parliament. Actress and model Jerry Hall, comedy performer Rhona Cameron and socialite Tamara Beckwith met the MPs in the afternoon for rehearsals.

Beijing forbids Vagina Monologues

The Vagina MonologuesChina has banned the women's rights play The Vagina Monologues the day before it was due to open in Beijing.

Photo: The play has been performed around the world

A scheduled performance of the play in Chinese in Shanghai had already been pulled earlier in the week. The Beijing Cultural Bureau said it was cancelled because organisers had not applied for permission to stage it which would have made it illegal. The play, which boldly deals with sex and women's issues, has been performed in 39 countries, including Iraq. "The play has been temporarily suspended. It hasn't been decided when it can be performed," said Shang Fang, a spokesman for the Today Art Gallery where the performance was scheduled. It was going to be a charity event raising money for groups fighting domestic violence. The organisers were hopeful the play would escape censorship because it was to be a non-profit show and performed in English. A Beijing official said: "They didn't go through the procedures of applying for permission. "Without applying, it's considered an illegal performance." He added that if even the permit was applied for now there would not be time for it to be granted. The producer of the Shanghai play, Li Shengying, said: "The content of the play is actually very serious and the subject is very meaningful, but I think it's the method of telling the story that some higher-ups have problems with."

The article continues on the following pages.
 

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