By Laura Crowley

Staff Writer

The students of the department of theatre and dance will put on their final performance of “Be You [tiful],” a series of monologue by Eve Ensler this evening in Hunt Formal. Directed by Tina Cody ’12, the play consists of a series of monologues acted by Yulissa Hidalgo ’12, Cherie Celeste Malone ’13, Victoria Moyer ’13, Katharina Schmidt ’13 and Emily Shoemaker ’14.

The play explores issues that affect young girls and women, including body image, sexual behavior and satisfying social standards.  In one monologue,  Shoemaker cuts up cantaloupe into tiny bites while proclaiming her plan to lose weight. In a later scene, she acts out the documentation of anorexia by imitating Internet blogs and pro-ana websites.

In a separate monologue, Moyer embodies the destructive pattern of plastic surgery by lying on an operating table and almost devilishly proclaiming her newfound beauty.

Hidalgo wears a trash bag and is wrapped in Christmas lights to convey the self-mutilation that comes from the art of tattooing and piercing.

“I loved the way they used very simple props like cantaloupe and trash bags to convey different things.  It was very creative,”  Cameron Berry ’13 said.“The use of lighting, such as that used with the Christmas tree lights, was very inventive. [Cody] did a good job directing creatively and innovatively[ given her use of props],” he said.

The play offers some hope regarding the struggles young women face.  In one scene, Malone says her boyfriend is helping her to stop starving herself, which her father had encouraged.  Her boyfriend’s cooking, she said, is helping her learn to enjoy food.

“You could tell that the audience was very engaged and that people were relating to the issues at hand. Tina Cody did a great job of surfacing important issues,” Alyssa Kinell ’12 said after viewing a dress rehearsal of the play.

The issues addressed in “Be You [tiful]” are relevant and pervasive in the lives of young women.  Confronting such issues may help heal these destructive patterns to which many young women fall victim.

“Be You [tiful]” plays tonight in Hunt Formal at 8 p.m. Tickets are $4.