Elizabeth Brady, a junior from Pembroke, Mass., directs the sixth annual Bates College production of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues in performances at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10 and 11, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.

The production is sponsored by the Robinson Players, a student theater group at Bates. Admission is $3, with proceeds supporting both the Auburn-based Abused Women’s Advocacy Project and V-Day, an international effort to end violence against women and girls. For more information, please call 207-786-6135.

Ensler based The Vagina Monologues on interviews that she conducted with more than 200 women about their sexuality, their bodies and their stories of violence and sexual abuse. The result is a collection of women’s stories that are personal yet universal, comic and poignant, brazen and mysterious.

Premiered 10 years ago, the play has enlightened, shocked and entertained audiences all over the world. In 1998, Ensler founded the organization V-Day as a means to parlay the play’s success into an effective force for social and political change. (For more information, see the V-Day Web site.)

Bates is one of some 550 colleges and universities in 45 countries to take part in V-Day performances of The Vagina Monologues during February and March 2006. “We’re all really excited about its message,” says Brady, a chemistry major who is making her directorial debut with this production.

“While there are funny skits, there are also serious skits, and even the funny skits have a point to them about women having a choice and not being silent. We all really stand behind that.”

Since its Obie-winning premiere, Ensler’s play has been performed to broad acclaim worldwide. Productions have featured such top actors as Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett, Susan Sarandon, Marisa Tomei, Rosie Perez, Lily Tomlin, Kate Winslett, Melanie Griffith and Calista Flockhart.

At Bates, Brady performed in the Robinson Players production in 2004 and 2005. “I’ve always been a women’s rights advocate, so I’m really excited about it and happy to be involved with it,” she says.

“We have a great cast this year. They are probably one of the most enthusiastic casts I have ever worked with.”

As director, “I want to put a different kind of energy into it,” Brady says. “We are bound by contract that we can’t actually change any of the monologues, so I want to put a new spin on presenting them — a little bit more in-your-face, a little bit more eye-pleasing, a little bit more action.”

For instance, she’s considering more props, flashier costumes and the concept of having some of the players act out what the narrator is saying. “Just to keep the audience engaged and emphasize the points a little bit, and maybe get a little laugh out of the audience — because it does get very serious at times,” she says.

Brady wishes that Ensler’s play dealt more directly with issues specific to women in college — peer pressure about sex, for instance. But she’s not about to sit down and write a letter taking the playwright — who’s touring this winter with a new play, The Good Body — to task. “The show is so popular and it obviously has lasted such a long time and gets so much attention that I don’t think I could critique her,” Brady says.

Last year, Brady adds, “we sold out both nights. I’m still hearing congratulatory things from everybody. Everyone remembers you when you are in The Vagina Monologues.”

The performances will also be shown live via closed circuit in the Keck Classroom (G52), Pettengill Hall, Andrews Road. Admission costs $3 for Olin seating and $1 for Keck.Each year proceeds from the production support initiatives working to eliminate violence against women and girls. Advance tickets will be sold from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, Feb. 7-9, in Chase Hall, 56 Campus Ave. Tickets will be sold at the door at Olin on performance nights starting at 7 p.m. For more information, please call 207-786-6135.

The show is sponsored by the Robinson Players, a student theater organization at Bates.

Eve Ensler is an award-winning playwright, poet, activist and screenwriter. For The Vagina Monologues, she asked a diverse group of women about their thoughts and feelings regarding this part of their bodies. The play Ensler created from these interviews relates women’s stories in terms that are personal yet universal, comic and poignant, brazen and mysterious.

“I remember attending the show my first year at Bates, having never heard of it before,” says Osadchaya, of Moscow, Russia. “What had the greatest impact on me was that it took people on a two-hour tour of every emotion. The audience’s reaction changed from embarrassment, outrage and utter shock to complete enjoyment of the show’s seductive candidness.”

“It’s this transformation, on an individual level, that’s the first and the most crucial step towards raising the bar of respect, creating a safer society and ending violence towards women and girls,” she says. “Ever since then, I’ve been involved in the productions directly, for the past two years as an actress, and finally as a director.”

Osadchaya explains that this year, with the international organization V-Day as intermediary, part of the proceeds will go towards The Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq. Founded in 2003, this is the only national women’s organization in Iraq advocating for a secular society based on democracy and respect for human rights in accordance with international standards.

“The rest of the money will go towards local grassroots organizations committed to stopping violence towards women and girls,” Osadchaya says.

A neuroscience major studying the relationship between schizophrenia and memory, Osadchaya has been active in theater at Bates. In addition to previous Vagina Monologues, she performed in the 2002 production of Oscar Wilde’s “Lady Windermere’s Fan” and directed a Chekhov play for a Bates-Colby one-act play festival in 2003.

Since its Obie-winning premiere, in 1996, Ensler’s play has been performed to broad acclaim worldwide. Productions have featured such top actors as Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett, Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Marisa Tomei, Rosie Perez, Lily Tomlin, Kate Winslett, Melanie Griffith and Calista Flockhart.

This time around at Bates, students (including Osadchaya) will perform all the monologues. The play stirs “undying enthusiasm in everyone associated with the production,” says the director. “That’s what keeps the energy going despite everybody’s intensive academic schedules.”

But, she says, “what finally pulls the show together is the audience. The full house and applause make it all worthwhile, as we realize that we’ve touched every audience member, and thereby contributed to the unstoppable campaign to end violence against women and girls.”

A $2 donation is suggested. Tickets are available at the arts center starting at 4 p.m. on the day of the performance; no reservations are accepted, but overflow seating will be available. The production is sponsored by the Robinson Players, a student theater organization. For more information, call 207-786-6135.

Eve Ensler is an award-winning playwright, poet, activist and screenwriter. For The Vagina Monologues, she asked a diverse group of women about their thoughts and feelings regarding this part of their bodies. The play Ensler created from these interviews relates women’s stories in terms that are personal yet universal, comic and poignant, brazen and mysterious.

“The play was brought to Bates in 2001 by a friend of mine” — Ariana Margolis, of the class of 2003 — “as part of a campaign on college campuses nationwide to raise awareness of violence against women,” says Myles, of St. Louis, Mo. “Some of the monologues are more political, others are humorous and still others are quite moving.”

“It’s becoming a wonderful tradition at Bates — one that I hope continues well into the future,” she says. “I have some big shoes to fill. The previous shows have been so successful, and I want this year’s to exceed everyone’s expectations.”

Since its Obie-winning premiere, in 1996, the play has been performed to broad acclaim worldwide. Productions have featured such top actors as Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett, Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Marisa Tomei, Rosie Perez, Lily Tomlin, Kate Winslett, Melanie Griffith and Calista Flockhart.

At Bates, students (including Myles herself) will perform all the monologues. Katalin Vecsey, a lecturer in the Bates theater department and the vocal coach for theater productions, has been adviser to the project since its inception.

“It’s an empowering play for everyone involved — especially the audiences!” says Myles, an American cultural studies major with a secondary concentration in theater.