Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Warner Stand Behind ‘SLUT’

By Warren Rojas
Posted May 18, 2015 at 3:31pm

Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Mark Warner of Virginia are scheduled to lend their voices Tuesday to “SLUT: The Play,” a teen-led look into modern rape coming to the Warner Theatre for one night only.  

The experimental production is set to premiere in D.C. at 7 p.m. and is expected to feature opening remarks by Warner, with Gillibrand joining in a post-show discussion. Tickets to the much-talked-about show are $20.  

SLUT THE PLAY GOES NATIONAL from Evenstar Films on Vimeo .  

While she’s fairly certain neither Senate Democrat has attended a previous performance, Playwright and SLUT Co-Director Katie Cappiello told HOH the participating pols are familiar with the thought provoking narrative. Per Cappiello, “colleagues, college roommates and friends” prodded Gillibrand — who is spearheading efforts to combat sexual assault in the armed forces and on campuses — to pay attention to the compelling play.  

Cappiello built on the grass-roots lobbying by sharing additional reading materials.  

“In February, we passed along a copy of our book, ‘SLUT: A Play and Guidebook for Combating Sexism and Sexual Violence ‘ with a note conveying our goal of performing in D.C. and engaging members of Congress and other critical office holders in a conversation about the importance of consent education at the high school level. She reached out to us, said she was inspired by our work and would absolutely join us and speak at our event in D.C.,” Cappiello said.  

Warner was wooed, Cappiello said, via a combination of personal connections (“his close friend Amy Fine Collins” played an integral part, she asserted) and regional pride. “It was important to Sen. Warner to support young women from his state doing game-changing work — the cast is comprised of high school girls from New York and Virginia,” Cappiello explained.  

In addition to counting on Gillibrand and Warner to help out with part of the program, Cappiello said aides from the offices of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.; and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., are all expected to attend the show.  

Cappiello said cast members are also planning to meet with Catherine M. Russell, ambassador-at-large for Global Women’s Issues.