We first saw this play in New York and loved Eve Ensler's performance of The Vagina Monologues. She pulls out all of the stops and calls out all of our favorite pet names for our endearing little V. Forcing people across the country to say the V-word, Eve has been joined by an incredible cast, at times. This is basically a one-woman show that explores how women feel about their bodies.

We enjoyed Suzanne Weiss' following critique of Eve Ensler's performance.

November 5, 2000 - Suzanne Weiss

Anybody remember “unmentionables?” A routine euphemism for those lacy items in the Victoria’s Secret catalogue, the term might also be extended to tampons – now regularly hawked on TV – or, how about body parts? Well, we’ve come a long way baby and there are no more unmentionables. Welcome to The Vagina Monologues.

Eve Ensler’s little one-woman show also has come a long way since its 1996 premiere, turning into something of a feminist phenomenon. There have been national and international tours, sometimes with Ensler, a gifted actress as well as author, sometimes with visiting celebs. Once you get over some initial embarrassment, you’ll begin to understand why. The fact that I can write this review at all shows that Ensler has done her work well.

In a scant 90 minutes the show covers everything from hair to the instruments of torture found in the gynecologist’s office; the horror of genital mutilation in Africa to the wonder of birth. Most of it is hilarious; some of it, like the African statistics and a segment on the rape victims of Bosnia, is terribly sad.

Framed by red, pink and purple velvet draperies that look rather like the folds of a you-know-what, Ensler, black-clad and barefoot, sits on a stool behind a microphone for the entire performance. She’s 47 but looks younger. Her initial aspect is somewhat flat and deadpan, as she explains the genesis of the piece and her research. The questions she asked the more than 200 women she interviewed included “What do you call it?” and the answers ranged from “down there” to the highly imaginative “cootchy snorch.” “How would you dress it?” drew responses like “glasses,” ”a baseball cap,” “emeralds,” “a tutu,” “mink,” “anything machine washable” and “Armani.” “If it could talk, what would it say?” drew a range of answers from “Get outta here” to “I want…”

This is all rather amusing but, once the actual monologues begin, with Ensler taking on the persona of an elderly woman in New Jersey, a proper British lady discovering her own sexuality late in life, a New York sex worker, a young lesbian -- both her delivery and the show come very much alive.

She tells stories, some verbatim, some composites. She treats you to a virtuoso symphony of moans. She makes you squirm and she makes you laugh. She also makes you think. Ensler has used this show to spark awareness of violence against women and to raise money for its victims. If she salts her material with humor, she peppers it with interesting facts. For example: did you know that, in five states in this country, the sale of vibrators is against the law? The same five states permit the legal sale of handguns.

“I never heard of anybody committing mass murder with a vibrator,” she notes.

The Vagina Monologues tends to be heavily attended by women. It’s fascinating to look at the departing audience, all shapes sizes and ethnic groups, all laughing and chattering and sharing their own stories as they spill out into the street. Something has changed for many of them; the unmentionable has been celebrated, made glorious, understood. But, before anything can really change, The Vagina Monologues needs to speak to both sexes. Guys are you listening?

"I say vagina because I want people to respond," says playwright Eve Ensler, creator of the hilarious, disturbing soliloquies in The Vagina Monologues, a book based on her one-woman play. And respond they do--with horror, anger, censure, and sparks of wonder and pleasure. Ensler is on a fervent mission to elevate and celebrate this much mumbled-about body part.

Buy It Now

The following women have all already graced the stage at
New York's Westside Theatre in Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues:

Mary Alice Jayne Atkinson Becky Ann Baker Barbara Barrie Joy Behar Polly Bergen Karen Black Brett Butler Carolee Carmello Diahann Carroll Nell Carter Kathleen Chalfant Hope Clarke Kate Clinton Kim Coles Didi Conn Veanne Cox Claire Danes Lolita Davidovich Viola Davis Linda Ellerbee Susie Essman Calista Flockhart Mo Gaffney Teri Garr Cynthia Garrett Ana Gasteyer

Gina Gershon Marla Gibbs Robin Givens Judy Gold Hazelle Goodman Julie Halston Lisa Gay Hamilton Donna Hanover Melissa Joan Hart Teri Hatcher Katherine Helmond Ruthie Henshall Janet Hubert Amy Irving Judith Ivey Carol Jenkins Sarah Jones Erica Jong Patricia Kalember Carol Kane Julie Kavner Lainie Kazan Shirley Knight Lisa Kron Swoosie Kurtz LaChanze Ricki Lake

Ali Larter Sanaa Lathan Joie Lee Sherri Parker Lee Lisa Leguillou Melissa Leo Jenifer Lewis Peggy Lipton Roma Maffia Ann Magnuson Sonia Manzano Julianna Margulies Andrea Martin Marsha Mason Andrea McArdle Rue McClanahan Audra McDonald Mary McDonnell Idina Menzel Hayley Mills Rita Moreno Alanis Morissette Cynthia Nixon Sandra Oh Rosie Perez Mackenzie Phillips Tonya Pinkins

Annie Potts Stefanie Powers Charlotte Rae Phylicia Rashad Gloria Reuben Alice Ripley Michelle Rodriguez Mercedes Ruehl Annabella Sciorra Michele Shay Brooke Shields Lois Smith Julia Stiles Loretta Swit Holland Taylor Regina Taylor Mary Testa Marlo Thomas Marisa Tomei Angelica Torn Joyce Van Patten Lauren Velez Marcia Wallace Jessica Walter Lillias White Lynn Whitfield Kimberly Williams

 

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