ORLANDO, Fla.--Broadway actress Eva Van Dok brought her performance of the critically acclaimed play, "Eaten Alive" to Valencia's West campus Tuesday, in an event arranged and hosted by the Valencia peer educators.
"Eaten Alive" is a 55 minute, one-woman show that directly deals with eating disorders and weight obsession. Van Dok portrays five different women, all at different stages in their lives, and all struggling with serious eating issues.
West campus coordinator for the peer educators, Meagan Dickson, introduced Van Dok's performance and said that she felt it was, "very important for students to be aware of issues like these, particularly at Valencia, where there is no health center."
The play begins with a stressed out working mother, who looks in the mirror and feels disgusted by her reflection. She then vows to dedicate even more time to her already strict regimen of exercise and diet, and attempts to reschedule her already hectic life. After this, the character binges on abnormal amounts of food and tells herself it would be the last time.
Van Dok then moves on to depict the life of a young college student struggling with bulimia. The student talks on the phone to a friend, saying, "gaining weight is worse than dying." According to the character, eating and throwing up is the only way to control weight gain, and in turn her own stress.
The performance moves on to deal with other kinds of disordered eating, including an obese woman struggling to lose weight for her health, and an anorexic girl who's ideal size is "a negative three." The hard hitting performance ultimately returns to the stressed out career woman, who comes to realize that weight obsession has taken over her life. The play ends with the character saying, "Get some help."
After the show, the audience had the opportunity to take part in an informal question and answer session with Van Dok, in which she opened up about her own experiences with anorexia and bulimia. After the death of her father when she was 12, Van Dok saw eating as a way of getting control back into her life. She said, "eating disorders have nothing to do with food. It's all about control."
Also on hand to answer questions was Valencia counsellor Gloria Hines, who told the audience that seeking professional help was the first and most positive step to take in order to recover from an eating disorder.
Valencia student Melissa Davis felt particularly moved by the performance, saying, "It was relevant to my own personal experience. I'm glad I came today." The play was also relevant to student Peter MIrck, who said, "It was inspiring because I know somebody that has been through it."
Van Dok plans to continue her performances and hopes to reach out to many more college students in the USA, and across the world. "Realization that there is a problem needs to come before help can be sought. Raising awareness is something that I am very passionate about."
For more information about eating disorders and how to get help, visit www.nationaleatingdisorderassociation.org
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