By David F. Rooney
Revelstoke Rising, the dynamic and by turns optimistic and deeply poignant ant-abuse event put on at the Performing Arts Centre by the Women’s Shelter and the Community Response Network, was a huge success on Thursday evening.
They did not, unfortunately, fill the theatre but there were bums in at least half the seats and when you consider how little success women’s rights activists have had in recent years trying to get people out to similar events, it must be judged as an unqualified success.
From the Flash Mob Dancers to the solo singers, Blanket Skit and the monologues, Revelstoke Rising, which was capably MCed by singer/songwriter Joanne Stacey, touched people in a variety of ways.
Women’s rights activist Jewelles Smith talked about the cyclical nature of the abuse and violence that for thousands of years have been aimed at women and girls. Only be making abuse against women and girls as repugnant as cannibalism can contemporary society make real inroads against this form of violence.
Violence against women is often hidden and for decades women who had been beaten and abused and who have even seen their children kidnapped by former spouses and partners pleaded for assistance that was rarely forthcoming from police and the courts. Revelstoke resident Otti Brown shared her own personal nightmare back in the late 1980s with the audience and the anguish and emotion that still touched her today wrenched at the audience.
The first part of the event, which was generously sponsored by the Revelstoke Arts Council and the Revelstoke Credit Union, was marked by songs sung by Aza Deschamp, Paige Makarewicz and Sharlene Foisy while the second half of the event was marked by monologues on the nature of abuse and relationships.
Here are a few photos of the event and, if you’d like to see most of it for yourself (alas the battery for The Current’s video camera expired before the second half f the event) the photos are followed by six 10- to 15-minute videos of the first half of Revelstoke Rising:
Reader Patti Matsushita has pointed out a problem with the videos that were posted onto this page. Doubtless many other readers noticed that all of the videos posted appeared to be exactly the same. I don’t know how that occurred and I apologize for any inconvenience.
Until I can correct the problem the videos will have to be viewed on my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/currenteditor?feature=mhee.
