Student play helps raise awareness of sexual assault

“You need some romance in your life. Or at least some hot sweaty sex,” Tanya said to her… “You need some romance in your life. Or at least some hot sweaty sex,” Tanya said to her friend Elaine to encourage her to ask David out.

David, Elaine and Tanya are characters in the play, “The Date,” which tackles the issues of date and acquaintance rape. The play was performed by four Pitt students on Wednesday in the Assembly Room of the William Pitt Union.

“The Date” was the last event of Sexual Assault Awareness Week, which was organized by Mary Koch Ruiz, the coordinator of Pitt’s Office of Sexual Assault Services. The play was put together by Sam Goldberg, Allison Baron and Abby Dehler, who are Ruiz’s interns and peer educators in the Peers2Peers program, a volunteer organization which spreads sexual assault awareness.

The four actors performed the one-act play from chairs on the stage.

The main characters, David and Elaine, are two college students who, after a night of drinking, have sex. Awkwardness follows as they both like each other and are afraid to ask the other out. David’s friend Scott and Elaine’s friend Tanya both pressure their friends to ask the other out.

Elaine finally asks David out on a date. After dinner and drinks, they go back to David’s room and begin to kiss. David tries to have sex with Elaine, but she feels uncomfortable. She tells him to stop once but isn’t forceful. David thinks she wants to have sex and persists.

Elaine is an emotional wreck after they have sex. She ignores David’s calls and stays in her room for the next week. Her friend Tanya says she was raped, but she refuses to believe it. David finally comes to see Elaine, and they fight. David is confused because he doesn’t think he did anything wrong.

After the play, Goldberg confirmed that Elaine was date raped. Dehler, who played Elaine, said that 84 percent of all rapes are date and acquaintance rapes, with only 16 percent of rapes being committed by assaulters unknown to the victim.

After the play, Goldberg asked the audience what David and Elaine could’ve done differently. An audience member said that they shouldn’t have drank so much.

The actors agreed, pointing out that alcohol is a chief cause of date and acquaintance rape. They encouraged the members of the audience not to make sexual decisions when they drink and to know their drinking limits.

They also warned the audience of the dangers of date rape drugs, saying that it takes only 15 minutes for the drugs to affect the body. They are tasteless and odorless, and all signs of the drug leave the body after the first time one urinates.

Goldberg made it clear that both David and Elaine were at fault, and both could’ve done things differently. She said David sensed something was wrong and heard her say no but kept going. Elaine did say no, but she wasn’t forceful enough.

“I should’ve fought back, I know. I was just too afraid,” Elaine said during the play.

Dehler said that if David and Elaine went to court, David would be found guilty, even though they had had sex once before. She said that in cases such as these, the man is always found guilty, especially when alcohol is involved.

“I started wondering if she was crazy or something,” a confused David said after his falling out with Elaine.

The actors added that communication is the most important tool in preventing date and acquaintance rape. They encouraged the members of the audience to be upfront with their partners about their sexual limits and to respect their partners’ boundaries.