Trigger Warning: Rape/Sexual Assault
Rounding out Women's History Month, Rowan University Department of Theatre & Dance (RUTD) students Caitlin Alvarez (She/Her) and Heather Sirisky (She/Her) have created and directed a moving piece centered around women's rights and sexual assault. One in Five, produced by The Rowan University Office of Social Justice, Inclusion, and Conflict Resolution (SJICR), will stream for free on Wednesday, March 31, 7 pm EST.
It recognizes the power in bringing women from various generations and backgrounds together to discuss these current issues. Infused with writings, music, and movement, “One In Five” artistically explores women’s stories that fuel them to not stand silent.
Thinking about saving the date for this live stream event? Keep on reading for more from one of its creators and directors, Caitlin Alvarez.
At the end of February 2021, Alvarez and Sirisky were co-directing SJICR's annual production of The Vagina Monologues by V. When the duo were told this play could not be produced unless it was live and in-person, they felt their work was not done yet. They started working on a new, original piece the same day.
There are performance pieces in One in Five, even an original song by Alvarez, but it primarily consists of interviews and a Zoom panel centered around consent and women's rights with faculty and students outside of RUTD. The cast's telling of all real-life stories consists of Rowan Theatre Arts majors, faculty, and alumni.
Alvarez is immensely passionate about sexual assault awareness. She also devised her senior project last year, 00:00:73, on sexual assault.
Why did you choose to create this piece in particular?
Alvarez: "I wanted to expand on my show from last year. That was the original idea, but with COVID-19 and having everything be online... my show last year was a dance piece. It's really not easy to try to replicate that, especially online and over Zoom when we can't have everybody in the same physical space. I was talking to Dr. Alicia Monroe (She/Her), who was in 'The Vagina Monologues', and she said 'I would really like to talk about women's reproductive rights.' I was like, 'I don't know a lot about that, but I do know a lot about sexual assault. So why don't we tie the two things together?'"
The process of One in Five's creation consisted of real stories and two monologues by RUTD student Lily Snow (She/Her) and Oberlin student Katie Friedmann (She/Her). Alvarez and Sirisky went through their work from The Vagina Monologues to find out what elements they wanted to keep. The piece is much more of people talking about their own experiences, rather than a cohesive story.
Were there any challenges faced along the way of creating One in Five?
Alvarez: "Schedules and coordinating. Both of us thought we were going to have 'The Vagina Monologues' and be done, so being thrown into it was super challenging. Right now we're working up until the last minute. There were a lot of ideas that had to be scrapped because of time and resources. We were kind of coming up with things on the spot, seeing what could get done, and changing ideas based on people's availability."
When asked what Alvarez took away from working on this piece, she said she was really grateful for people's willingness to talk and share their experiences. This show is less visual, so you have to listen to everything the cast is saying.
What was the significance of the panel discussion for your piece?
Alvarez: "Dr. Monroe was the one who suggested it. It really helped shape the pieces we were doing because after the panel we were like, 'This is what we need.' We were kind of dependent on how the conversation was going to go to solidify which performance pieces we were going to keep. Luckily, the writers and choreographers were pretty quick with us. After that discussion I called Katie and was like, 'This is what we talked about. Can you kind of shape the monologue to go with X, Y, and Z?' So the panel is kind of what leads us through the show. It's really useful insight and it was really beneficial to hear from people I have never met before. The panel featured a decent amount of BIPOC (Black, Indegenious, and People of Color) folx, and it's always nice, especially as a woman of color, to share the space with other BIPOC women."
What do you hope audiences take away from One in Five?
Alvarez: "I think the biggest thing is that sexual assault if really prevalent in our society and it doesn't just mean rape. There's a whole plethora a different ways to be sexually assaulted and I think it's really important for a community like ours. We're young, on a college campus, and exposed to so many different kinds of people in a transitional period of our lives. I just hope it's informative and people learn from it and understand."
Alvarez and Sirisky's piece premieres on the final day of Women's History Month. When asked what this month means to Alvarez, she said to celebrate women and lift them up in your life.
To register to stream One in Five, scan the bottom right hand corner of this flyer.
If you are unable to scan the code, click this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd55SR4BFA_ToKsbQOGPQfAj1RlunBAikc17LzUXOnjxANyTA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR2S_hzCQHI6UxgBQ0yIR7sWDEERzq9BzlXal7DOZMojOIXdQ2WpPfs5cBU
See you next week! Erica Gerold Theatre Arts & Public Relations '23
Resilient , relevant, and moving...very much looking foward to this production!