Wednesday April 7, 2010 Richmond, CA

I went to my second rehearsal tonight of The Vagina Monologues.

I have lines in these 2 sections of the play:

“I Was There In the Room” The  lines are beautifully poetic.
Vanessa, Vicki, Natalie, Michelle, Martha and I had a good time saying our lines.

“A teenage Girl’s Guide to Surviving Sex Slavery” I can’t describe to you what this passage is; you have to see the show–Monday April 12, 2010, 7:30pm

Teresa LeYung Ryan rehearsing with fellow actresses "I Was There In The Room" in The Vagina Monologues

Director Kathryn G. McCarty said:  “A cast member asked me to include a few words on why I am doing this show.  Back in November, I stood with fellow teachers and friends at the Candlelight Vigil for the victim of the Gang Rape in Richmond (a student of mine).    A few weeks later, a fellow teacher told me he heard another young woman at our school say ‘I don’t know what the big deal is about rape.  It happens to everyone.’

“Everyone?  Did I hear this clearly?   I wondered what I could do.  After some thought, I spoke with several friends & decided  The Vagina Monologues was a show that needed to be done.

“We really need help getting the word out about the show, which is a benefit for Community Violence Solutions, a rape crisis center.  We would really like to reach young people who might not go to such events – but who will learn from this show.  Thanks for your help!”

Director Kathy McCarty is so good with us newbies. We’re all working hard rehearsing, spreading the word about April 12th, and making new friends.

See you at the Craneway Pavillion, 1414 Harbour Way South, in the Marina district of Richmond, CA, convenient to the 580 freeway.   www.craneway.com

Tickets at:  http://galateanplayers.com “Family Vagina Warrior Discount”  The $30.00  online discounted ticket is available April 7 – April 10.  If you can’t make it to the show, there is also the “Each One, Reach One” ticket, where you can donate $20 to help sponsor someone else’s coming to the show.  $25 for students & seniors. Or https://www.goldstar.com/ for $20 tickets & $5 fee.

Thanks, Elisa Southard, for cheering me on; this newbie likes being an actress.

authors Teresa LeYung Ryan & Elisa Southard in Pittsburg, CA commemorating Denim Day 2005

Thursday, April 8, 2010 third rehearsal. Tonight I remembered 90% of my lines.  I had fun. I was deeply moved by the other gals’ deliveries of their lines.

http://www.goldstar.com/events/richmond-ca/the-vagina-monologues.html

“On April 12, 2010, 7:30pm Women from throughout the East Bay unite to perform Eve Ensler’s award-winning play The Vagina Monologues as a benefit for Community Violence Solutions. V-Day is a global movement and series of consciousness-raising events geared toward ending violence against girls and women worldwide. The Vagina Monologues is based on more than 200 interviews with women. The monologues help give voice to experiences and feelings not traditionally exposed in public.”

Directed by   Kathryn G. McCarty   a benefit for Community Violence Solutions

In an interview:  “Somehow the Craneway Pavillion seems an appropriate venue,” said Clay David, who is helping to produce The Vagina Monologues. The venue is in the Rosie the Riveter National Park, he explained. “The V-Day Movement possesses a very ‘We Can Do It’ grassroots effort. It’s a movement that started small, in colleges throughout the country, and it’s done magnificent work.”

http://galateanplayers.com/THEVAGINAMONOLOGUES.html
Further information about V-Day:   http://www.vday.org

Teresa LeYung Ryan rehearsing lines in "A Teenage Girl's Guide to Surviving Sex Slavery" in The Vagina Monologues

Sincerely,

Teresa

I, Teresa LeYung Ryan, author of Love Made of Heart, help survivors of violence find their own voices through writing.

www.LoveMadeOfHeart.com

Dear Writers, Colleagues, Mentors, Friends, Family Members,    

Director Kathryn McCarty has asked me to ask you to help spread the word about this benefit performance.  Please use Facebook, Tweeter, your blogs, emails, etc. to extend the invitation to your friends who live in the SF Bay Area.  You have my gratitude.

On Monday April 12, 2010, 7:30pm  Let’s pack Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, CA to support V-Day & our communities at the one-night performance of Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues. In spite of an already packed schedule, Director Kathryn G. McCarty was compelled to take on this project–a fundraiser for Community Violence Solutions in response to the crime of last October when a former student of hers was gang-raped at Richmond High School.  Kathy said: “I am afraid we are kidding ourselves if we think violence, or apathy to violence just happens in Richmond.  It’s epidemic. .. It’s going to take the entire Bay Area Community to reach out.  We all have to take a stand in teaching young people how to think for themselves. There are alternatives to violence.”   “V” in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina. Tickets through  http://galateanplayers.com/ General Admission $40; Students & Seniors $25; buffet dinner & show $65  OR https://www.goldstar.com/ (for half-price general admission tickets). Tell Director Kathy (925) 676-5705 that cast member Teresa LeYung Ryan sent you (if GoldStar runs out of half-price tickets; Kathy can arrange for more half-price tickets). The show is produced by Galatean Players in association with Contra Costa College.

Craneway Pavilion is at 1414 Harbour Way South, in the Marina district of Richmond, CA, convenient to the 580 freeway.   www.craneway.com

Could you email me as well if you can attend on April 12, 2010?  I’d like to look for you after performance and personally thank you. I’ll be updating my website  http://WritingCoachTeresa.com with photos from rehearsals.

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung Ryan, author of Love Made of Heart
Here’s the backstory–the ripples . . . In April 2004 Poet and women’s advocate Shirley Itim Melo Phelps had invited me to Community Violence Solutions’ Evening of Awareness; Jackie Speier was the keynote speaker that night. The following year, Shirley, Cynthia Peterson and Rhonda James at CVS asked me to be their keynote speaker for Denim Day and Take Back the Night.

Yesterday April 3, 2010 after my first day of rehearsal of The Vagina Monologues, I came home and found photos from 2005 (when I had delivered  those 2 speeches for Community Violence Solutions).

I am honored to be included in the cast, all empowering women, guided by Director Kathryn G. McCarty who has reconnected me with Community Violence Solutions. In Eve Ensler’s play, the section about “what would your vagina wear?”  I’d say “ultra soft denim” to commemorate “Denim Day” which breaks the dress-code thus breaking the silence about sexual violence.

Teresa LeYung Ryan and Sergeant Sandra Douglas 2005 Denim Day

Here are exerpts from my April 27, 2005 speech at Pittsburg, CA.  (My friend, author Elisa Southard, and columnist Clara-Rae Genser were there that day in 2005, giving me moral support.)

“The Denim Day Campaign began in 1999 with the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (also known as CalCASA) and the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women as part of an international protest of an Italian High Court decision to overturn a rape conviction because the victim wore jeans.  I am now quoting from CalCASA:

The justices dismissed charges against a 45-year-old rape suspect because his 18-year-old victim was wearing jeans at the time of the attack. The Court blamed the victim for the rape, stating in their decision that because the victim’s jeans were so tight, she would have had to remove them herself.  The judgment sparked a worldwide outcry from those who understand coercion, threats and violence that come with the act of rape.  The unpopular verdict became an international symbol of myth-based injustice for sexual assault victims.

Women of the Italian Legislature protested the decision by wearing jeans.  As news of the decision spread, so did the protest movement. Over 120,000 people throughout Los Angeles participated on Denim Day last year.

We are wearing jeans today, along with Community Violence Solutions and the City of Pittsburg, because we want to put a stop to the kind of thinking that says: ‘A victim can prevent rape if she really wants to, including knocking a gun out of the attacker’s hand.’”

Here are some chilling statistics.  I am quoting Cynthia Peterson, director for the Rape Crisis Center at Community Violence Solutions:

Approximately 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men are raped in adulthood………

Under the age of 18, 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are victims of sexual assault.

We are here today to say NO to blaming victims.  NO to keeping silent.

We are here today to honor Sergeant Sandra Douglas and the community.

We are here today to WEAR DENIM!

# # # # # #

On a sunny day in November 2009 I was running errands in Berkeley when a newspaper headline stopped me.  “15-Year-Old Girl Gang-Raped”  The last two words made me dizzy and sick.  I stood there, staring into the newsstand. Then the anger rose and I wanted the strength of ten Hercules, to be an avenger for the teenager.  Since that day I’ve been asking my angels to show me compassionate ways to help my community.

Last month, my friend Elisa Southard called Kathy McCarty on my behalf when she heard that Kathy was directing The Vagina Monologues.  Thank you, Elisa, for being there for me in 2005, for being here now as I am reminded that our mission statements do take on larger and stronger ripples.

More about Community Violence Solutions:    Since 1974, CVS has served as the umbrella organization for Rape Crisis of Contra Costa and Marin Counties, while providing a wide range of services to child and adult victims of sexual violence, their families and the community.  http://www.cvsolutions.org/

V-Day Until the Violence Stops is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery.  www.vday.org

I had seen The Vagina Monologues 10 years ago when playwright and children’s book author Kim McMillon invited me. Marga Gomez, Rita Moreno and Vicki Lawrence delivered powerful performances in San Francisco. I remember seeing Patrise, owner of Gaia Books of Berkeley, and her friends, wearing red boas for V-Day.

As an author and a community spirit, I, Teresa LeYung Ryan, use my novel Love Made of Heart to:
• shed light on stigmas suffered by immigrant women, men, and children
• advocate understanding of mental illness/traumas to the mind and spread compassion
• help survivors of violence find their own voices through writing
www.LoveMadeOfHeart.com