The setting is in the present time, in a country that is likely Chile but could be any nation that has recently transitioned from a long period of dictatorship to a democratic government.

Paulina Salas is a former political prisoner from an unnamed Latin American country who was raped by her captors, including a sadistic doctor whose face she never saw.

Years later, after the repressive regime has fallen, Paulina lives in an isolated country house with her husband, Gerardo Escobar.

Death and the Maiden had a reading at the Institute for Contemporary Art in London on 30 November 1990: A workshop production was staged and opened in Santiago, Chile, on 10 March 1991: Death and the Maiden had its world premiere at The Royal Court Upstairs on 9 July 1991: With the same cast and director, it transferred to the Mainstage at The Royal Court on 4 November 1991.

The Indian premiere of Death and the Maiden (in Hindi translation by Shalini Vatsa) opened at the India Habitat Centre New Delhi on 17 February 2002, produced by Asmita Theatre.

[1] In 1994, Roman Polanski directed a film adaptation of the work, starring Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley and Stuart Wilson.