Eve Ensler, the creator of the theater production, the Vagina Monologues, spoke last night in the ARCO forum about art's ability to effect change in the political arena.

The Vagina Monologues chronicles stories of a woman's relationship to her vagina, and draws its material from Ensler's interviews with two hundred women of all ages and origins.

Ensler described the play as "the biography of a vagina which then becomes the story of women themselves, told by their vaginas."

The play's commercial success catapulted the self-described life-time activist into prominence. Productions of the Vagina Monologues grace the stages of most major cities and have had participants such as Kate Winslett and Susan Sarandon.

Ensler's speech last night addressed the production's power to inspire a campaign to curb violence against women.

Happy to embrace the title the "Vagina Lady," Ensler described the political agenda of the piece to the mostly female audience of about 200.

"Art gets around things. If you just say 'vagina,' you communicate in a different way," she said. "It doesn't matter if you're on the right or the left, but you see that we have to stop the patterns of violence against women."

She said art has a disarming effect for audience members that inspires open dialogue about personal history.

"I've had thousands of women tell me how they have been raped, beaten or mutilated," she said.

For these women, the theatrical production often proves emotionally difficult.

"Women sometimes have to leave or just faint when they hear some of the show. It just brings back memories," Ensler said.

The Vagina Monologues rose to enough prominence to enable Ensler and others to create "V-day," held on or near Valentine's day, to more fully address the discourse about women and their sexuality.

"V-day is for vagina, anti-violence and finally the victory against violence," Ensler said.

V-day is a day devoted to rallies that protest rape, incest and brutality against women, and includes non-profit performances of the Vagina Monologues, whose proceeds are donated to local women's groups.

"We hold it on Valentine's Day because these are crimes that should be actions of love," she said. "We helped 250 colleges hold the production and all the money went right into the communities."