The performance of The Vagina Monologues at Knuckleheads bar last weekend generated more than $5,000 in ticket sales and donations.
After event expenses, almost $4,000 will go to Laura's House domestic-violence shelter and the V-Day 2011 spotlight charity for the women and girls of Haiti.
V-Day is the nonprofit set up by Monologues author Eve Ensler to license charity performances of her play. The charity is structured to add cash to the coffers of existing groups that work to end violence against women; 10 percent of the proceeds will go to fight the sexual violence in Haiti that has increased since the January 2010 earthquake there; the rest goes to Laura's House, which helps women of Orange County escape abuse.
Andrea McCallister, a spokeswoman for Laura's House, said that $3,000 is the cost to put one woman and her child through the shelter's 45 day program that aims to get women back on their feet and away from the man who is abusing them.
The shelter is now expanding its facilities, adding capacity to help another 175 women per year in addition to the 200 the shelter helps now. The increase will add another 15 percent capacity to the shelter system in Orange County, McCallister said.
The play packed the house at Knuckleheads in North Beach on Friday and Saturday night; there was standing-room only Saturday, and a decent crowd showed up for the matinee. Total attendance for all three performances was roughly 300 people.
McCallister thanked the sponsors and event producer Laura Lee Bloor for organizing the event.
"Thanks to Laura Lee for putting on the event," she said. "And we so appreciate vilunteers like Laura Lee who spend the extra time in support of our service we provide to the community and who engage the community."
Bloor said she thanks all the sponsors for the event: San Clemente Patch, Buds Famous Hot Dogs, Knuckleheads, Mathom House Books, as well as director Priscilla Gonzalez, the sound and light technician from Morales Video Production; Adam Townsend, Patch editor and author of this article, who handled the musical composition and performance for the show; and the actresses.
They included Prerna Abbi, Wendy Berube (who is also the Moms editor/columnist for San Clemente Patch), Olivia de la Riva, Joan Ganter, Kalina Justice, Dee Lescault, Sandra Louise, Darla Magana, Franke Santos, Ann Stone, Cher'ie Roslyn and Peaches Watson.
If you'd like to volunteer at the shelter or donate, call the corporate office at 949-361-3775. If you need help getting out of an abusive situation, call the Laura's House 24-hour help line at 1-866-498-1511.
