You probably remember Eve Ensler for screaming things like, "Vagina mother****ers!," "He's a Bob. I can tell," and "Feeling a little irritated in the airport? Just say, cunt! Everything changes." But the Tony Award-winning playwright known for her hilariously cringe-worthy accounts of being a woman has taken her Vagina Monologues success to promote female empowerment in a global way. Back in 1998, she launched V-Day, an international nonprofit movement that has raised upwards of $75 million for women's anti-violence groups across the world. Earlier this year, she was named one of Newsweek's "150 Women Who Changed the World."

Now, she's making a special one-night-only performance at Grace Cathedral in support of her forthcoming book CongoCancer (due out late 2012), in which she talks about her own battle with uterine cancer and her lifelong commitment to ending sexual violence against women. “The evening will be a gathering calling up the outrage, courage, tenderness, and wisdom that lives in the body which is the body of the world,” Ensler says. “It will look at how surviving cancer, violence, or suffering is the pathway to connection, transformation, and revolution." 

Ensler has a history of showcasing works in progress and world premiering her work for San Francisco audiences including her plays The Vagina Monologues and The Good Body. Joining Ms. Ensler on Tuesday is renowned Iranian composer, vocalist, and performance artist Sussan Deyhim who will deliver opening and closing performances on the evening of Ensler's talk.

Ensler’s newest play, Emotional Creature, will make its world premiere at Berkeley Rep next year.

7 p.m., Tuesday, 9/27 at Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St., cityboxoffice.com

Eve Ensler photo by Joan Marcus