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A new play that explores the pain of sexual assault debuted on Monday, Nov. 6. The play is titled "Monday, or the Other Rape Play." The main character, Wylie, tries to recount her experience of sexual assault and understand why it happened to her.
It's written by local playwright Amy Abrigo. She received the Individual Artist Grant from the San Antonio Arts Commission to produce this public reading. Abrigo said the piece aimed to generate empathy for survivors.
"My goal in writing this play and producing this play and letting it be heard is that it will help other people feel less alone and also know that there are different ways they can express and heal with me and with this art," she said.
The play's four actors took the stage at Black Potion to guide the audience through one woman’s experience with sexual assault and her journey to recovery.
The play was an auditory journey, guiding the audience through Wylie’s experience. The story jumps off after Wylie is asked to explain what happened to her. From there, Wylie, her friends, and the audience jump back and forth across time to try and uncover the truth.
“Rape is so every day. It is part of every day. [The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, or RAINN] says that every 68 seconds someone is sexually assaulted, and every nine minutes that's a child," she explained. "So I think it's really powerful that someone's entire life can be changed on a Monday. And for someone else, it's just another Monday.”
At the end of the performance, Abrigo invited the audience to provide live feedback and to discuss the content with officials and experts from the San Antonio Police Department, Planned Parenthood, and San Antonio’s rape crisis center.
"Monday" requires an audience to process a lot of heavy themes, which inspired Abrigo to prioritize time for reflection after the show with the right people.
“I'm hoping to get some of those resources from these organizations to say, "Well, here's something you can do.” Whether this has affected you or not, and talk about advocacy and talk about healing," she said.
The show was free, and anybody 18 years or older was encouraged to attend the premiere.
For more information, check out the event on Facebook.
