Watch Artistic Director, Paula Garfield announce our very special one-night charity fundraising performance of The Vagina Monologues!

For the first time, 20 deaf and hearing women will take the stage to perform the monologues in a mix of British Sign Language and spoken English with captions.

The performance will be on Saturday 23 September 2023, 7:30pm at the Hackney Empire in London and will be raising money for the charity Deaf-initely Women who provide essential services to deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind women.

Written 27 years ago, Vagina Monologues is based on writer V’s (formerly Eve Ensler) “Vagina Interviews” conducted with 200 women all around the world. 

The play is a collection of very funny and emotional monologues that represent the untold experiences of women. It is a powerful celebration of womanhood and sexuality.

On this year’s International Sign Language Day, Deafinitely Theatre is proud to be a part of this play’s legacy raising money to support the end of violence against deaf women. 

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Paula Garfield said "I am thrilled that we are staging a one night only performance of The Vagina Monologues to raise funds for Deaf-initely Women. For our 20th anniversary production, Everyday in 2022, I was grateful to work with and learn from many domestic abuse survivors and field leaders, including several IDVAs (Independent Domestic Violence Advocates) who work in a professional capacity to help rebuild the lives impacted by domestic abuse. We know that organisations that support domestic abuse survivors face unprecedented pressures and by raising funds during this special performance, Deaf-initely Women will be able to provide accessible training opportunities and create more qualified deaf IDVAs. The Vagina Monologues is a play that celebrates women and gives us back our voices in places where they are being silenced. The play famously draws on the experiences of women and girls over the world, bringing us together. No matter your age, race, religion, gender, deafness, disability, education level, no matter where you are from, there is something in this performance for you.”

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Supporting  

When you buy a ticket for The Vagina Monologues, you will be helping to support our amazing partner charity Deaf-initely Women find and train more deaf people to become qualified Independent Domestic Violence Advocates. There are currently only 10 deaf IDVAs working across the whole of the UK!

Deaf-initely Women is a charity that is led by deaf and deafblind women bringing deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind women together. One of the crucial services they provide is DEaf Abuse Free service to help deaf and deafblind women to live a life free from abuse.

Teresa Waldron, CEO of Deaf-initely Women said: “We are delighted to see that Deafinitely Theatre is putting on a one-night performance of The Vagina Monologues from deaf women’s perspectives, highlighting the struggles that deaf and deafblind women endure in silence. Their fundraising efforts will help us to recruit more deaf & deafblind women to become fully trained Independent Domestic Violence Advocates. This will help us to support more deaf and deafblind survivors of abuse”.

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Join us on Saturday 23 September 2023 at the Hackney Empire and support the end to violence against deaf women. More information and how to book can be found here.