The Vagina Monologues

The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler (now known as V) was originally produced as a play in New York City in October 1996 at the HERE Arts Center, off-Broadway. V, a Tony-award-winning playwright, began The Vagina Monologues by first talking with her friends about their experiences as women before interviewing over 200 women from various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. V compiled their responses to produce the first edition of The Vagina Monologues, which has now grown into a global phenomenon with international movements and annual benefit performances translated into multiple languages.

This study guide refers to the 20th anniversary edition of the play, published in 2018, which also includes “Spotlight Monologues” and a segment devoted to V-Day, “a global activist movement to end violence against all women and girls” (169). V-Day, which is celebrated on Valentine’s Day each year, aims to increase awareness of violence against women through performances of The Vagina Monologues and other works by V.

V has won Obie and Tony awards, among others, for The Vagina Monologues. Other works by V include Necessary Targets, The Good Body, and Insecure at Last.

Content Warning: The source text features graphic depictions and discussion of rape, sexual assault, suicide and suicidal ideation, and domestic and systemic violence against women, which this study guide also discusses.