We are grateful to our company of seasoned performers and all of the visiting artists who have given 4thU Artivists their time and creative energy to help protect women and girls from domestic violence.

 

Spring 2023 Production: Sacred Wombs: Honoring Marginalized Birthing Bodies
A Benefit Performance – Livestreamed & In-Person Audiences
Sacred Wombs was an original production curated by the 4thU Artivists (led by Erin Bigelow-Umar and edited by Nancy Robillard) designed as a staged reading (in the style of The Vagina Monologues) about the business of birth and the maternal health crisis in the United States. This show highlighted original birth stories and true experiences with discrimination in the hospital system, featuring prominent voices from the reproductive justice movement.
The show was impactful and attracted generous audience members as it was our first in-person audience in almost 4 years!

Fall 2021 Production: Dear ONE:  Love & Longing in Mid-Century Queer America

A Live, Staged Benefit Performance Streamed to a Virtual Audience
Dear ONE illuminiates the lives of ordinary Queer Americans as recounted through letters written between 1953 and 1965, to L.A.’s ONE Magazine, the first openly gay & lesbian periodical in the United States.  Written by Joshua Irving Gershick and Directed by Nancy Robillard

 

Spring 2021 Production: Choice Words: Voicing Our Truths, Claiming Our Power
A Virtual Benefit Performance
Choice Words was our second virtual production! It was a collection of essential voices that renewed our courage in the struggle to defend reproductive rights. Curated by poet Annie Finch and the 4thUArtivists, this collection magnified the voices of people reclaiming the sole authorship of their abortion experiences. The essays, poems, and prose were a testament to the profound political power of defying shame.

Fall 2020 Production: Radical Voices: The “Otherness” of Feminism
A Virtual Benefit Performance
Radical Voices was our first virtual production. It was a curated reading interwoven with dance, musical performances, and a storyteller to highlight the theme of Systemic Trauma for the most marginalized in our societies. The presentation featured work from Audre Lorde, Edwidge Danticat, Jo Carrillo, Rosario Morales, Andrea/Andrew Gibson, and other formidable writers & poets.

Spring 2020 Production: How We Love/F*ck – Postponed and Canceled due to COVID-19 Global Pandemic
A Benefit Performance
How We Love/F*ck was written by Lillian Isabela and is a powerful sex-positive theater piece in response to the #MeToo movement which celebrates female sexuality and how fun sex can be, based on interviews Lillian had with 28 fabulous women (à la The Vagina Monologues!). The show was almost fully rehearsed and many tickets sold, but once the pandemic hit we ended up having to cancel the performance, but we wish to revisit one day!!

Fall 2019 Production: Cabaret 160 – Fem Power After Hours
A Benefit Cabaret Performance
Cabaret 160 – Fem Power After Hours was a revue that raised $9,000 to end violence against women. The group created a pop-up cabaret variety show for two nights in November, presenting 24 performers who donated their time and talent to help protect women and girls.

Spring 2019 Production: The Vagina Monologues – 4thU Artivists 10-Year-Anniversary
A Benefit Performance
The Vagina Monologues was a powerful production that raised over $20,000 to end violence against women. The group presented Eve Ensler’s award-winning play with 35 women on stage donated their time and talent to help protect women and girls.

Fall 2018 Production: HERsterical: No Laughing Matter
A Feminist Stand-Up Comedy Revue
HERsterical was a standup comedy revue that raised over $10,000 to end violence against women. The group created a pop-up feminist comedy club for two nights in November, presenting fifteen comedians who donated their time to help protect women and girls.

Spring 2018 Production: #UsToo: Shattering the Silence
A powerful evening of theater and dance depicting a vision of women’s rights as a unified global event.
The show was comprised of the following productions:

• “Take A Look At That Girl!” by Marsha Lee Sheiness, Conceived by Donna Trinkoff
• “You Know As I Know” by Deborah Karpel
• Solo Dance Performance: “United States of America–Citizen” by Janet Aisawa
• Solo Dance Performance: “…yet again” by Catherine Cabeen
• Group Dance Performance: “You Can Dance Again” by Jess Grippo
• “Over It Redux” by Eve Ensler

Winter 2018 Production: Writing on the Wall
“Writing on the Wall” by Charles Nuckolls is a dramatic staged reading with multimedia elements. Starring: Crawford M. Collins, Bob Jaffee, James Nugent, Jessica O’Hara-Baker, George Olesky, Martin Barabas, and Melissa Roth**
Based on true events, “Writing on the Wall” tells the shattering story of coeds at a prestigious college who claim to have been sexually assaulted. They declare the names of the perpetrators by writing them on the library restroom wall, their words glowing with fury.
“Writing On The Wall” was presented amid today’s climate of increasingly frequent sexual assaults on college campuses and mounting challenges to Title IX. Each performance was followed by a talk-back session exploring the multiple issues raised in this important and timely piece.
** The Actors are appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

Spring 2017 Production: Body Of Women
For BODY OF WOMEN, 4thU Artivists’ creative director, Erin Bigelow, brought together the works of three emerging female artists.  Breastimonials, a funny and touching monologue collection written and directed by Kaedy Fischer, featured a range of women discussing their relationship with their bodies – specifically breasts. Buket Gulbeyaz’s short play Habitat explored the story of five women through the lens of their relationships as friends and family by following their daily lives within the transgender/queer community.  Woven around them was a pop/punk song cycle, Havoc! from composer and frontwoman Terra Warman, a timely piece set in a world of political disarray, where women are thrust into seemingly impossible situations and must strive to pick up the pieces.
Performances of this full event — which included a pre-show abortion story short film, Names of Women — coincided with Sexual Assault and Awareness Month.

Fall 2016 Production: Blood on the Veil
The thrilling BLOOD ON THE VEIL: A BELLYDANCER’S JOURNEY was a unique “monologue-in-movement” written and directed by Carol Tandava.  This full-length solo performance combined Tandava’s story of working as a bellydancer with mesmerizing dance moves. It presented an opportunity to dispel misconceptions surrounding the art form while treating the audience to an evening of great beauty and passion.

Special Summer 2016 Event: A Night of Revolutionary Performances
A NIGHT OF REVOLUTIONARY PERFORMANCES, curated and directed by Erin Bigelow, featured  prominent artists from the local community including opera singers, dancers, comedians, spoken word artists, authors, pop and folk performers as well as drag performances, web series actors and deeply personal storytellers. Most pieces were original and all performances were themed around Revolution: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls.

Spring 2016 Production: Women of New York
Our first project under our new banner fittingly was written and directed by a member of our 4thU Artivists family, Ege Maltepe.  WOMEN OF NEW YORK was a hugely ambitious project with nearly 20 characters played by a funky mix of actors and non-actors of diverse ages and backgrounds.  Leveraging her experience with theater games, Ege refined each genuine New York voice by helping every member of the cast dig deeply into themselves.  It was a triumphant new beginning for our organization.

Spring 2015 Production: I’m An Emotional Creature & Women’s Voices

Production of EMOTIONAL CREATURE by Eve Ensler (Dir. Erin Bigelow) & WOMEN’S VOICES ; A compilation of contemporary female playwrights works (Curated & dir. by Ege Maltepe)

Benefit recital “BACH with CHATTY PIANIST & Friends” Emir GAMSIZOGLU (Pianist), Anna URREY (Flute), Gizel YUCEL (Viola)

Spring 2014 Production: The Good Body & The Vagina Monologues

Our production of THE GOOD BODY by Eve Ensler (Dir. Erin Bigelow) & VAGINA MONOLOGUES by Eve Ensler (Dir. Lynn Bourbeau, Maria Alegre)

Benefit Concert-Drama “TALKING TO SCHUBERT” Emir GAMSIZOGLU (Pianist), Ege MALTEPE (Playwright & Director)

Spring 2013 Production: The Vagina Monologues and Chopin & Women
Production of VAGINA MONOLOGUES by Eve Ensler (Dir. Erin Bigelow & Ege Maltepe)
Benefit Concert “Chopin & Women” Emir GAMSIZOGLU (Pianist)

Spring 2012 Production: The Vagina Monologues
Production of VAGINA MONOLOGUES by Eve Ensler (Dir. Erin Bigelow & Ege Maltepe)
Benefit Piano Recital by  Emir GAMSIZOGLU (Pianist)

Spring 2011 Production: The Vagina Monologues
Production of VAGINA MONOLOGUES by Eve Ensler (Dir. Erin Bigelow & Ege Maltepe)
Benefit Piano Recital by  Emir GAMSIZOGLU (Pianist)

Spring 2010 Production: The Vagina Monologues
Production of VAGINA MONOLOGUES by Eve Ensler (Dir. Nancy Robillard)

Spring 2009 Production: The Vagina Monologues
Our very first production of VAGINA MONOLOGUES by Eve Ensler (Dir. Nancy Robillard)