NASHVILLE, Tenn. – "Eaten Alive," a one-woman play that presents the lives of five women in different stages of life who suffer from eating disorders, will be presented at Vanderbilt University Monday, Feb. 16.
The play, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7:30 p.m. in Sarratt Cinema on Vanderbilt’s campus.
Broadway actress and recovered anorexic/bulimic Eva Van Dok stars in the piece which shows the behaviors, thought processes and lifestyles of the five women in a way that illuminates the emotions of each character as they live and function with their disorder. Van Dok has performed the play at colleges and universities around the country.
Creating characters to which the audience can relate-a roommate, sibling or friend-Van Dok illustrates the dangerous thought patterns, such as, "it’s not a problem" or "I will stop once I lose these last five pounds," that can be devastating both emotionally and physically.
Among the characters she has portrayed in the piece are a time-crunched mother obsessed with losing the last five pounds, a college student trying to convince her friend that binging and purging are the answers to her problems, the weight-obsessed mother of a "chubby" college student, and a size one dance instructor attempting to fit into a smaller pair of jeans.
Following the performance, Van Dok will be joined by Kendra Gray, a therapist at Vanderbilt’s Psychological and Counseling Center and Heather Holden, clinical dietician with Vanderbilt Nutrition Services, for a question-and-answer session with audience members.
For more information about the performance, call 615-322-4958.
Media contact: Princine Lewis, (615) 322-NEWS
Princine.l.lewis@vanderbilt.edu