In 1996, it was a controversial, taboo-busting, off-Broadway production criticized for being manhating and inappropriate in its content about underage sexuality. Fourteen years later, it’s practically an institution—but one with a mission.

Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues—an attempt by the playwright to reclaim power over the female genitalia in the face of sexual violence and damaging societal messages—continues to be the centerpiece of the V-Day campaign to end sexual violence against women and girls. In 2009, Westminster College’s production of the play and other V-Day events raised more than $13,000 for the Salt Lake City Rape Recovery Center. Also running through Feb. 13 at the campus’s Jewett Center is an exhibit from the Clothesline Project, recognizing survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

Does the play itself still have the power to change perceptions? Oh, most definitely. And your ticket purchase still has the power to change lives.

The Vagina Monologues @ Westminster College Gore Concert Hall, 1840 S. 1300 East, 801-832-2457, Feb. 11-13, 7:30 p.m.