美国国家公共电台 NPR A New Monologue For Eve Ensler, Re-Enacting Life With Cancer

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Let's talk now about Eve Ensler. Of course, she's best known for her groundbreaking play "The Vagina Monologues¹." More about that later. Right now, her one-woman show, "In The Body Of The World," based on her memoir², is playing off Broadway. And as you may have surmised³, the play and this story deal with adult themes. Jeff Lunden reports.

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE⁴: Eve Ensler went to the Congo in 2009 to help victims of rape⁵ and torture create a sanctuary⁶ called City of Joy when her own life got upended.

EVE ENSLER: And we're at the height of it, and it's almost impossible building something in the middle of a war zone. You don't have roads. You don't have electricity. You don't have - it was just - it was madness. And as that's all in chaos⁷, I got diagnosed with stage 3-4 uterine cancer. The alchemy of it all was just, you know, change or die.

LUNDEN: That's the story of "In The Body Of The World," which toggles between Ensler's harrowing journey to fight cancer, her own painful family history and how she relates to the world. Theater director Diane Paulus read the book and thought it would make a great one-woman show.

DIANE PAULUS: It was signature Eve - philosophy, politics, feminism - all told through humor and her point of view, which she does not shy away from. But it was so deeply personal.

LUNDEN: And after meeting in Ensler's Manhattan loft⁸ for a couple of years, they created the play.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "IN THE BODY OF THE WORLD")

ENSLER: (As herself) So how'd I get it? Was it tofu? I ate a lot of [expletive] tofu. Was it failing at marriage twice? Was it worrying every single day for 56 years that I wasn't good enough?

LUNDEN: But whatever the source of her cancer, Ensler says her own experience with rape and abuse had caused her to mentally disconnect from her body.

ENSLER: And so I think my whole life, not only have I been trying to get back into my body, but I've been really working to find ways to support women coming back into their bodies. And cancer did the trick, as well as building City of Joy, because those two things together - you know, we were building a place where women could come back into their bodies.

LUNDEN: And onstage, Ensler really uses her body to tell the story. Director Diane Paulus says she pushed the playwright⁹ and actress to her limit.

PAULUS: We had a very intense rehearsal¹⁰ process, where there were a couple times she said, you really are going to ask me to crawl across the floor while I'm speaking? I'm like, yeah. (Laughter) Let's do it.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "IN THE BODY OF THE WORLD")

ENSLER: (As herself) I lay there on the table, my underpants down around my ankles. And I think, OK, this is it. This is it. This is what the end looks like. The most handsome man in the world knows I have some disgusting tumor¹¹ inside me, and he has to feel for it. I'm clearly shell-shocked.

LUNDEN: Eve Ensler says there's something very meta about re-enacting her own physical pain and spiritual journey for 300 people, eight performances a week.

ENSLER: It's been really so interesting to play oneself going through pain, while looking at it at the same time as experiencing it. It almost feels like how we need to be dealing¹² with trauma¹³ in some way - that we go, and we revisit it with that third eye, which is protecting us and keeping us safe enough to revisit it and purge¹⁴ it and cleanse¹⁵ it.

LUNDEN: And it's a tough performance schedule for a 64-year-old cancer survivor¹⁶, so she doesn't plan to tour the play like she did with her own signature work, "The Vagina Monologues." But that show has had a life of its own.

Twenty years ago, on Feb. 14, the first V-Day was held, when productions in professional theaters, colleges and even living rooms raised millions of dollars towards ending violence against women and girls. For the anniversary, 3,000 performances are scheduled.

ENSLER: I'm so emotional right now, coming up on the 20th anniversary. You know, when I think 20 years ago how hard it was to say the word vagina, you know, how crazy everybody thought it was - you know, and then to see how women - amazing women across the world, across this country took this play, brought it into their communities, were brave enough to put it on.

LUNDEN: And all because Eve Ensler has been brave enough to walk the walk as a women's rights activist¹⁷ for decades. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.

1 monologues   

n.（戏剧）长篇独白( monologue的名词复数 )；滔滔不绝的讲话；独角戏

参考例句：

• That film combines real testimonials with monologues read by actors. 电影中既有真人讲的真事，也有演员的独白。 来自互联网
• Her monologues may help her make sense of her day. 她的独白可以帮助她让她一天的感觉。 来自互联网

2 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

3 surmised   

v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想

参考例句：

• From the looks on their faces, I surmised that they had had an argument. 看他们的脸色，我猜想他们之间发生了争执。
• From his letter I surmised that he was unhappy. 我从他的信中推测他并不快乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

6 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

7 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

8 loft   

n.阁楼，顶楼

参考例句：

• We could see up into the loft from bottom of the stairs.我们能从楼梯脚边望到阁楼的内部。
• By converting the loft,they were able to have two extra bedrooms.把阁楼改造一下，他们就可以多出两间卧室。

9 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

10 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

11 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

12 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

13 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

14 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

15 cleanse   

vt.使清洁，使纯洁，清洗

参考例句：

• Health experts are trying to cleanse the air in cities. 卫生专家们正设法净化城市里的空气。
• Fresh fruit juices can also cleanse your body and reduce dark circles.新鲜果汁同样可以清洁你的身体,并对黑眼圈同样有抑制作用。

16 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

17 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。