Eve Ensler's IN THE BODY OF THE WORLD Joins MTC's 2017-18 Season

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) have announced that Manhattan Theatre Club will present the American Repertory Theater production of In the Body of the World, written and performed by Tony Award winner Eve Ensler and directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus, as part of MTC's 2017-2018 season.

In the Body of the World will begin previews January 16, 2018 ahead of a February 6, 2018 opening night at MTC at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street).

The Tony Award-winning author, performer and activist Eve Ensler, whose The Vagina Monologues is an international sensation, comes to MTC with a powerful new play based on her critically acclaimed memoir. While working with women suffering from the ravages of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ensler was stunned by a life-threatening diagnosis. Told with her signature brand of humor, Ensler's personal journey uncovers surprising connections between her body and the earth and how illness can be both transformative and transcendent. Directing this bold, unflinching and inspiring piece is Tony award winner Diane Paulus (Waitress, Pippin).

Manhattan Theatre Club's 2017-2018 season will include In the Body of the World and the previously announced Broadway premiere of Prince of Broadway. Six additional productions at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) on Broadway, New York City Center - Stage I, and The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center - Stage II will be announced at a later date.

Eve Ensler (Writer, Performer) is the Tony Award winning playwright, activist, performer and author of the theatrical Obie Award winning phenomenon, The Vagina Monologues, published in 48 languages and performed in over 140 countries. Ms. Ensler's plays include Floating Rhoda and the Glue Man, Extraordinary Measures, Necessary Targets, OPC, The Good Body, and Emotional Creature. Her books include Insecure At Last: A Political Memoir; New York Times bestseller I Am An Emotional Creature; and her latest critically acclaimed memoir In the Body of the World which she recently adapted, debuted and performed at the American Repertory Theater to rave reviews directed by Diane Paulus. Her play Fruit Trilogy was performed at the Women of the World Festival in London and The West Yorkshire Playhouse in March of 2016. Her film credits include an HBO film version of The Vagina Monologues (2002). She also produced the film What I Want My Words to Do to You, a documentary about the writing group she led at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women. The film premiered and won the Freedom of Expression Award at Sundance Film Festival and premiered nationally on PBS's "P.O.V." in December 2003. She recently co-directed the documentary short One Billion Rising which premiered in the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Ms. Ensler is founder of V-Day, the almost 20-year-old global activist movement to end violence against women and girls which has raised over 100 million dollars. V-Day, led Ms. Ensler to also found One Billion Rising, the biggest global mass action to end violence against women in human history in over 200 countries. She writes for The Guardian, Time Magazine, and the International Herald Tribune. She was named one of Newsweek's "150 Women Who Changed the World" and The Guardian's "100 Most Influential Women."

Diane Paulus (Director) is the Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, and was selected for the 2014 TIME 100, TIME Magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. A.R.T.: Eve Ensler's In the Body of the World, Waitress (currently on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theater), Crossing (a new American opera with music and libretto by Matt Aucoin), Finding Neverland (currently on the first National tour), Witness Uganda, Pippin (Tony Award, Best Revival and Best Director), The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (Tony Award, Best Revival, NAACP Award, Best Direction), Prometheus Bound, Death and the Powers: The Robots' Opera, Best of Both Worlds, Johnny Baseball, The Donkey Show. Her other recent work includes Cirque du Soleil's Amaluna, currently on tour in Europe, Invisible Thread at Second Stage, The Public Theater's Tony Award-winning revival of HAIR on Broadway and London's West End. As an opera director, her credits include The Magic Flute, the complete Monteverdi cycle, and the trio of Mozart-Da Ponte operas, among others. Diane is Professor of the Practice of Theater in Harvard University's English Department. She was selected as one of Variety's "Trailblazing Women in Entertainment for 2014" and Boston Magazine's "50 Thought Leaders of 2014."

THE AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER (A.R.T.) at Harvard University is a leading force in the American theater, producing groundbreaking work in Cambridge and beyond. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Diane Paulus and Executive Director Diane Quinn, the A.R.T. seeks to expand the boundaries of theater by programming events that immerse audiences in transformative theatrical experiences. Throughout its history, the A.R.T. has been honored with many distinguished awards, including the Tony Award for Best New Play for All the Way (2014); consecutive Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical for Pippin (2013) and The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (2012), both of which Paulus directed; a Pulitzer Prize; and the Tony Award for Best Regional Theater. As the professional theater on campus, the A.R.T. catalyzes discourse, interdisciplinary collaboration, and creative exchange among a wide range of academic departments, institutions, students, and faculty members, acting as a conduit between its community of artists and the university. A.R.T. plays a central role in Harvard's newly launched undergraduate Theater, Dance, and Media concentration, teaching courses in directing, dramatic literature, acting, voice, design, and dramaturgy.

Manhattan Theatre Club, under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, has become one of the country's most prominent and prestigious theatre companies. Over the past four and a half decades, MTC productions have earned numerous awards including six Pulitzer Prizes and 19 Tony Awards. MTC has a Broadway home at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) and two Off-Broadway theatres at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street). Renowned MTC productions include August Wilson's Jitney;Heisenberg by Simon Stephens; The Father by Florian Zeller with translation by Christopher Hampton (Tony Nomination for Best Play); Fool For Love by Sam Shepard; Airline Highway by Lisa D'Amour; Casa Valentina by Harvey Fierstein; Outside Mullingar and Doubt by John PatRick Stanley; The Commons of Pensacola by Amanda Peet; Murder Ballad by Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash; Choir Boy by Tarell Alvin McCraney; The Assembled Parties by Richard Greenberg; Wit by Margaret Edson; Venus in Fur by David Ives; Good People and Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire; The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez; Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies; Ruined by Lynn Nottage; Proof by David Auburn; The Tale of the Allergist's Wife by Charles Busch; Love! Valour! Compassion! by Terrence McNally; The Piano Lesson by August Wilson; Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley; and Ain't Misbehavin', the Fats Waller musical. For more information on MTC, visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.