Welcome to Breaking Down Patriarchy. I'm Amy McPhee Allabest. In 1994, New York-based playwright,

performer, and activist Eve Ensler, now known as V, wrote an honest, heartbreaking and humorous

fictional play based on more than 200 interviews she conducted with a wide variety of women. The play,

The Vigina Monologues, was first performed in

1996 by Vee herself and received instant acclaim playing to sold-out houses. Vee performed the show

for six months in New York, then took it on the road. After every performance, she was met by

countless women who shared their own stories of surviving violence at the hands of

relatives, lovers, and strangers. Overwhelmed by the number of women and girls who had experienced

violence and compelled to do something about it, she began to envision the vagina monologues

as more than a provocative work of art. It could be a mechanism for moving people to act to end violence.

V, together with a group of New York City-based volunteers, founded V-Day on Valentine's Day

1998.

Three years later, a benefit performance of the Vigina monologue sold out 18,000 seats at Madison

Square Garden, raising $1 million.

The vagina monologues continues to be an essential foundational text, and I am beyond honored

to welcome V, the author formerly known as Eve Ensler, who wrote this world-changing work.

Welcome, V.

Thank you.

I'm thrilled to be here, Amy, particularly with anybody who is

breaking down patriarchy. Yay! I love it. Well, this is such an honor for me. I'm so excited

about this conversation. I remember the first time I heard about the vagina monologues was in

2001, and I was at a point in my life where I felt a little

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