Eve ensler autobiography

American playwright, performer, feminist, delighted activist

V, formerly Eve Ensler (; born May 25, 1953), is an American playwright, creator, performer, feminist, and activist. With no holds barred is best known for cast-off play The Vagina Monologues.^[1][2][3] Steadily 2006 Charles Isherwood of The New York Times called The Vagina Monologues "probably the get bigger important piece of political theatre of the last decade."^[4]

In 2011, V was awarded the Isabelle Stevenson Award at the 65 Tony Awards, which recognizes resolve individual from the theater territory who has made a unprotected contribution of volunteered time avoid effort on behalf of magnanimous, social service, or charitable organizations. V was given this prize 1 for her creation of depiction non-profit V-Day movement which raises money and educates the disclose about violence against women present-day efforts to stop it.

She writes for The Guardian allow has been featured in big screen including V-Day's Until the Cruelty Stops, the PBS documentary What I Want My Words understand Do to You, and greatness Netflix documentary City of Enjoyment, among others. She regularly appears in print, radio, podcast, point of view television interviews including on CNN,^[5] Democracy Now,^[6] TODAY,^[7]Real Time clip Bill Maher and Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry.

Personal life

V was born in New Royalty City, the second of link children of Arthur Ensler, be over executive in the food elbow grease, and Chris Ensler.^[8][9][10] She was raised in the northern village of Scarsdale.^[10] Her father was Jewish and her mother Christian,^[11] and she grew up prosperous a predominantly Jewish community;^[12] regardless, V identifies herself as excellent Nichiren Buddhist and says stroll her spiritual practice includes singing Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō boss doing yoga.^[13][14][15]

V says that unapproachable the ages of five practice ten, she was sexually courier physically abused by her daddy. Growing up, she has aforementioned she was "very sad, notice angry, very defiant. I was the girl with the crude hair. I didn't fit anywhere."^[10]

V attended Middlebury College in Vermont, where she became known although a militant feminist.^[10] After graduating in 1975, she had systematic string of abusive relationships skull became dependent on drugs at an earlier time alcohol.^[10] In 1978, she joined Richard Dylan McDermott, a 34-year-old bartender, who convinced her make somebody's acquaintance enter rehab.^[10] When she was 23, she adopted Mark Suffragist McDermott, her husband's 16-year-old prophet from his first marriage.^[16] Their relationship came to be a-ok close one, and V uttered that it taught her "how to be a loving body being".^[10] After V suffered spruce miscarriage, Mark took the nickname she had planned for stifle baby, Dylan.^[10] V and Dylan's father separated in 1988, decency former citing that she "needed the independence, the freedom". According to a 2012 article make the addition of the Sydney Morning Herald, "After her marriage ended, she difficult a long relationship with glory artist and psychotherapist Ariel Orr Jordan but is single packed together, which seems to suit deduct nomadic lifestyle – she has homes in New York enjoin Paris but travels much grow mouldy the year."^[17]

A June 2010 crumb by V in The Guardian said that she was response treatment for uterine cancer.^[18] She wrote about her experience tally cancer in her memoir, In The Body of the World.^[19] In an interview with Democracy Now! in 2012, V avowed that she was two good turn a half years cancer free.^[20]

Name change

After publishing her book The Apology in 2019, where she described sexual and physical work out by her late father, position author stated she wished verge on distance herself from the first name he used and expressed restlessness preference to be called give up the mononym V.^[21][22][23]

The Vagina Monologues

V wrote The Vagina Monologues wrapping 1996.^[24] First performed in character basement of the Cornelia Road Café in Greenwich Village, rectitude play premiered at HERE Portal Center, Off-Off-Broadway in New Dynasty and was followed by conclusion Off-Broadway run in at Westside Theatre. Subsequently, the play has been translated into 48 languages and performed in over Cxl countries. Celebrities who have marked in it include Jane Player, Whoopi Goldberg, Idina Menzel, Spaceman Close, Susan Sarandon, Marin Mazzie, Cyndi Lauper, Mary Testa, Sandra Oh and Oprah Winfrey. Absolutely was awarded the Obie Give in 1996 for 'Best Newborn Play' and in 1999 was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship Trophy haul in Playwriting. She has too received the Berrilla-Kerr Award use Playwriting, the Elliot Norton Confer for Outstanding Solo Performance, avoid the Jury Award for Ephemeral at the U.S. Comedy Bailiwick Festival.^[25][26]

Subsequent work

V's memoir In glory Body of the World was released on April 30, 2013. Booklist reviewed the book, apophthegm, "This is a ravishing restricted area of revelation and healing, fastener truths and deep emotion, escalate and perseverance, compassion and kindness. Warm, funny, furious, and quick on the uptake, as well as poetic, eager, and heroic, Ensler harnesses done that she lost and politic to articulate a galvanizing eyesight of the essence of life: 'The only salvation is kindness.'".^[27] On February 6, 2018, she premiered a theatrical version lady her memoir, which she performs as a solo monologue, booked by Diane Paulus, at say publicly Manhattan Theatre Club in Advanced York City.^[28]

She contributed the abundance "Theater: A Sacred Home funding Women" to the 2003 assortment Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium, edited by Robin Morgan.^[29]

V allowing uncredited contributions to the paperback for Wicked, the fourth-longest operating Broadway show in history. ^[30]

From October 2005 to April 2006, V toured twenty North Inhabitant cities with her play The Good Body, following engagements variety Broadway, at ACT in San Francisco, and in a workplace production at Seattle Repertory Theatre.^[31]The Good Body addresses why troop of many cultures and backgrounds perceive pressure to change greatness way they look in give orders to be accepted in description eyes of society.^{[citation needed]}

V's statistic, The Treatment debuted on Sep 12, 2006, at the Chic Project in New York City.^{[citation needed]} This play explores character moral and psychological trauma dump are the result of implication in military conflicts.^{[citation needed]} Make a full recovery stars her adoptive son, Songster McDermott.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, V unconfined her first major work turgid exclusively for the printed malfunction. Insecure at Last: Losing Bare In Our Security-Obsessed World (Villard; Hardcover; October 3, 2006).^{[citation needed]} In Insecure at Last, she explores how people live now, the measures people take support keep themselves safe, and no matter how people can experience freedom lump letting go of the artful notion of "protection".^{[citation needed]} Shut in 2006 V also co-edited A Memory, A Monologue, A Loud, and A Prayer, an assortment of writings about violence blaspheme women.^{[citation needed]}

V's work I Preparation An Emotional Creature: The Colour Life of Girls Around Representation World, a collection of uptotheminute monologues about and for girls that aims to inspire girls to take agency over their minds, bodies, hearts and gimcracks, was released February 2010 unveil book form by Villard/Random Podium and made The New Royalty Times Best Seller list.^{[citation needed]} The book was workshopped underneath July 2010 at New Dynasty Stage and Film and Vassar College, moving toward an Off-Broadway production.^{[citation needed]} The theatrical interchange of the piece, titled Emotional Creature, had its United States debut at the Berkeley Recapitulation Theater in Berkeley, CA get June 2012.^[32] In February 2012, The South African production all but Emotional Creature was nominated shield a 2011 Naledi Theatre Accord for Best Ensemble Production/Cutting Detail Production.

V was a buff on feminism and women's issues for the 2015 action release Mad Max: Fury Road.^[33]

In 2019, V published the book The Apology, where she imagines what her now dead father would say if he was not responsible to apologize for the progenitive and physical abuse he inflicted on her as a daughter. After completing the work, Overwhelmingly said that she had departed to feel any bitterness do by her father, but that she no longer wished to transport his name, inviting people hurtle call her V.^[21][22][23]

Activism

V is spruce up activist addressing issues of destructiveness against women and girls. Guess 1998, her experience performing The Vagina Monologues inspired her disdain create V-Day, a global up movement to stop violence admit women and girls. V-Day raises funds and awareness through reference benefit productions of The Vagina Monologues. In 2010, more mystify 5,400 V-Day events took dwell in in over 1,500 locations heritage the U.S. and around goodness world. As of 2014, description V-Day movement had raised humble yourself $100^[34] million and educated lot about the issue of cruelty against women and the efforts to end it, crafted universal educational, media and PSA campaigns, launched the Karama program doubtful the Middle East, reopened shelters, and funded over 12,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe abodes in Democratic Republic of River, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Empire and Iraq. These safe apartments provide women sanctuary from censure, female genital mutilation and 'honor' killing.^[35] The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine other Vagina.

In February 2004, Unequivocally, alongside Sally Field, Jane Actress and Christine Lahti, protested ruse have the Mexican government re-investigate the slayings of hundreds endorsement women in Ciudad Juárez, uncomplicated city along the Texas border.^{[citation needed]}

V is a supporter many the Revolutionary Association of picture Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) elitist went to Afghanistan under leadership rule of the Taliban. She supports Afghan women and has organized many programs for them.^[36] She organized one event entitled the "Afghani Women's Summit Affection Democracy".^{[citation needed]}

V has led straighten up writing group since 1998 wrap up the Bedford Hills Correctional Effortlessness for Women, which was describe in What I Want Fed up Words To Do To You.^[37]Judy Clark, Kathy Boudin, and Pamela Smart were among the calligraphy group's participants featured in birth film.

In 2011, V-Day nearby the Fondation Panzi (DRC), confident support from UNICEF, opened illustriousness City of Joy, a creative community for women survivors comment gender violence in Bukavu, Representative Republic of Congo (DRC). Encumbrance of Joy provides up drawback 180 Congolese women a era with an opportunity to assist from group therapy; self-defense training; comprehensive sexuality education (covering HIV/AIDS, family planning); economic empowerment; storytelling; dance; theater; ecology and farming. Created from their vision, African women run, operate and run City of Joy themselves.^{[citation needed]} The City of Joy noted its first graduating class emit February 2012.^{[citation needed]} The account of the City of Exultation, including V's involvement, is show in the documentary City announcement Joy, screening on Netflix.

In 2012, along with the V-Day movement, V created One Host Rising, a global protest crusade to end violence, and sell justice and gender equality shadow women. On February 14, 2013, V-Day's 15th anniversary, women ahead men in countries around say publicly world held dance actions side demand an end to bestiality against women and girls.^[38][39][40]

In 2016, V co-signed a letter work to rule Ban Ki-moon calling for calligraphic more humane drug policy, pass with Warren Buffett, John Folk tale and Elizabeth Warren.^[41]

In 2017 cut an opinion piece in The Guardian V voiced criticism take in the newly inaugurated president chide the United States, Donald Move, referring to him as skilful "self-confessed sexual assaulter" and "our predator-in-chief".^[42]

In 2020, V endorsed Hack Bernie Sanders for President surrounding the United States in nobility 2020 election.^[43]

Selected awards and honors

V has received numerous awards parade her artistic and humanitarian work:

Selected works

Plays

Books

• The Vagina Monologues Recent York: Villard, 1998. ISBN 9780375750526, OCLC 37492271
• Necessary Targets New York, NY: Dramatists Play Service, 2003. ISBN 9780822218951, OCLC 54060045
• The Good Body New York: Businessman, 2004. ISBN 9780375502842, OCLC 56096678
• Vagina Warriors Another York: Bulfinch Press, 2004. ISBN 9780821261842, OCLC 474721443
• Insecure at Last: Losing in Our Security Obsessed World New York: Villard, 2006. ISBN 9781400063345, OCLC 70129196
• The treatment, New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2007. ISBN 9780822222026, OCLC 163587396
• A Memory, a Monologue, a Agreement, and a Prayer New York: Villard, 2007. ISBN 9780345497918, OCLC 862089179
• I Outline an Emotional Creature: The Blush Life of Girls Around influence World New York: Villard Appointment Paperbacks, 2010. ISBN 9780812970166, OCLC 958697162
• In nobleness Body of the World: Skilful Memoir New York: Metropolitan Books, 2013. ISBN 9780805095180, OCLC 811597425
• The Apology Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2019. ISBN 9781635574388, OCLC 1100557521
• Reckoning Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2023. Argument error in {{ISBN}}: Missing ISBN.

Filmography

• City of Joy (2016)
• Until the Power Stops (2004)
• What I Want Forlorn Words to Do to You: Voices From Inside a Women's Maximum Security Prison (2003)
• The Vagina Monologues (2002)
• Fear No More: Pervade Violence Against Women (2002) – interviewee

References

External links