Gov't bans rerun of 'Vagina Monologues'

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(AFP) The government has banned a rerun of the controversial hit feminist play "The Vagina Monologues" after receiving complaints from the public, the producers said today.

"For now, we are still not sure about the details, because it was shown here before and well, we never had any problems," a spokesman for the local production house responsible for staging the play told AFP .

Presented by local performers from the Actors Studio and Five Arts Centre here, "The Vagina Monologues" was a sell-out when it made its debut here in January.

The play, written by American author Eve Ensler, has been performed around the world, sometimes by major stars such as Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon and Whoopi Goldberg.

The official said the company had informed ticket holders the show had been cancelled due to "major technical problems".

"We received a letter from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall on Tuesday instructing us to cancel the show because there were complaints, but didn't say exactly what.

"I don't know, maybe they think it's indecent," he told AFP .

Seeking more information

The New Straits Times daily reported Thursday the producers would seek a further explanation for the ban, and would continue pushing for the play to be staged here.

"We want to find out what are these complaints, who made them and whether there are any specific items we can look into," producer Marion D'Cruz was quoted as saying.

Marion said notices had been put up outside the theatre stating that the play contained "adult material", but she added it was not vulgar or bad.

"We staged the play not because we wanted to do something controversial or shocking, rather we feel it is a piece of work that is important and has a message ... which is women's oppression," she said.



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