V (Formerly Eve Ensler) Interview: Creating The Vagina Monologues

V (formerly Eve Ensler) examines how her difficult childhood with an abusive father gave her the ability to recognise other people’s suffering, and how writing was her way to escape the pain. V discusses overcoming self doubt, art’s ability to impact social change, and describes her process of taking interviews and turning them into literary pieces as she did with her most popular work the Vagina Monologues.
V (formerly Eve Ensler), was born in New York City on May 25, 1953. She grew up in nearby Scarsdale and attended Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1975. V is a Tony Award-winning playwright, activist, performer, and author of the Obie award-winning theatrical phenomenon The Vagina Monologues, debuting in 1996, published in over 48 languages, and performed in over 140 countries. Her plays include Lemonade, Extraordinary Measures,Necessary Targets, O.P.C., The Good Body, Emotional Creature and Fruit Trilogy. Her books include Insecure At Last: A Political Memoir, The New York Times best seller I Am An Emotional Creature, and The Apology, now published in nearly 20 languages. Film credits include The Vagina Monologues (HBO) and What I Want My Words to Do to You (Executive Producer, Winner of the Sundance Film Festival Freedom of Expression Award, PBS) and Mad Max: Fury Road(Consultant). She is founder of V-Day, the almost 25 year old global activist movement which has raised over 120 million dollars to end violence against all women (cisgender and transgender), gender diverse people, girls and the planet, and the founder of One Billion Rising, the largest global mass action to end gender-based violence in over 200 countries. V was named one of Newsweek’s “150 Women Who Changed the World” and The Guardian’s “100 Most Influential Women.” In addition to the Isabelle Stevenson Tony award and the Obie, she has received numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship in Playwriting, Glamour’s Woman of the Year, the Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award and the Lilly Award.
From the 2013 PBS Documentary “Makers: Women Who Make America”, examines how women have helped shape America over the past 150 years, striving for a full and fair share of political power and economic opportunity.
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V (Formerly Eve Ensler), Playwright
Interview Date: October 10, 2011
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:09 Childhood
02:08 Writing
07:04 Storytelling
08:49 Women, war, and Bosnia
13:12 The Vagina Monologues
28:40 Emotional Creature
32:13 V-Day
37:11 Surviving cancer
44:32 Congo’s City of Joy
47:53 The women’s movement
51:31 Legacy
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#EveEnsler #KunhardtFilmFoundation

[@ryanweaver962]

I haven’t watched the monologues, I probably should, but they most certainly aren’t my stories to tell. I can see the strength and courage though. So many things.

[@wendyeisenberg925]

There were/are many MEN in the audience ----- in Los Angeles--when it first arrived on the stage.

[@florrycampanaro2102]

🙋 Promo>SM