The Struggles of ‘Vagina Monologues’-inspired Theatre in Morocco

In 2006, “Vagina Monologues”-inspired projects launched in Lebanon (“Women’s Talk”), Egypt (“BuSSy”), and the Netherlands (“Veiled Monologues”). In 2012, a similar project launched in Morocco (“Dialy”), although it’s had different struggles:

According to a Guardian profile about the Moroccan project that appeared yesterday, the project has had trouble not just from the anxiety of Moroccan theatre managers, but also from representatives of Eve Ensler, the creator of the English-language “Vagina Monologues.”

According to The Guardian, the Moroccan “Dialy” has been staged twice since the beginning of 2015, once at the Studio des Arts Vivants in Casablanca and once at the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris. Emmanuelle Jardonnet writes:

On both occasions there was controversy. The two organisations received threats of legal action from lawyers representing the author of the Monologues, Eve Ensler, demanding that they cancel the show. Ensler’s legal representatives alleged that the status of Dialy, quite openly inspired by the 1996 play, needed to be clarified. Initially the Moroccan show aimed to be an adaptation. In preparation the Aquarium organised a string of encounters and workshops to foster “female self-expression”, with contributions from about 150 women.

Following this a preliminary text was submitted to Ensler. As this application was not accepted, the troupe opted to use a completely new and original text by Maha Sano on the same subject.

“Heated” negotiations finally allowed the play to be performed.

More in The Guardian and Le Petit Journal.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian project, BuSSy, continues its fund-raising.