BOLD - coming to a theatre near you!

Every day I am amazed at how many people are catching the BOLD fever. BOLD performances are all busy this month rehearsing for their Labor Day shows. From the feedback I'm getting, all is going well and, something that surprises many of the BOLD organizers, the cast is really having a transformative experience. As one BOLD organizer emailed recently:

This is morphing into something so much bigger than I anticipated. I
don't know when I have ever been this excited about a project!I am working with a cast of actors, as opposed to birth advocates. Having no theatre experience I find it fascinating.

It is hard to sit on my hands and keep my mouth shut and allow the
director to do everything artistic. My role at rehearsals is that
of "technical birth advisor/childbirth educator." There is barely
enough time to answer their questions and NEVER enough time for me
to tell them what I think they need to know.

Last night they talked about the danger as an actor of over-preparing for
the role and thinking they are bigger than the role, thus not
allowing themselves to grow and enjoy the full experience (which is
just like being overprepared with book knowledge and a birth plan
and unable to surrender control to allow yourself to actually let
your body push out a baby.) The parallels are endless.

In the article they read out loud about preparing for a role, you
could substitute the words giving birth in every sentence about
acting. It was amazing and I think it is dawning on some of these
women that they are in for a wild emotional ride that might not be
like preparing for other roles they have done.



Another BOLD organizer, whose show is not being done by professional actors wrote:

Most of the actresses are good friends of mine (we've all been in an
intimate mother's group together for 11 years) and it has been very
interesting for all of us to work through birth baggage as we
prepare for our production. Two women switched roles because it was
too difficult for them to portray their original roles.

BOLD organizers also had an interesting exchange on whether Birth is a good play for pregnant women late in their pregnancies to see. Here are some people's thoughts:

Many of us work with pregnant women and their families and some of us feel that it might not be the kind of event we would be recommending to everyone. For example, some wondered what effect this play might have on a woman planning a hospital birth who is in her 37th week of pregnancy...maybe
she has not explored her choices and is simply going with the status
quo...maybe something like this play could invite fear into the
picture instead of empowerment for some women??

Another BOLD organizers felt a little different:

I wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing the play to `protect' them…I would hope that it would `enlighten'them to the point they make a change or seek counsel. If we try to predict someone's negative fear response and shield them from the play then we could be doing them a huge disfavor by actually holding them back from potential empowerment…we can never know how people
will respond…even those we think we know best. If you want to put a disclaimer on your poster you might say "WARNING: Viewing this play could change your mind about how you chose to birth. Be prepared to talk to your doctor or midwife. It's never too late to be empowered." :)

So, what do I think? When people ask me about pregnant women seeing the play I say I think it's an EXCELLENT play for pregnant women in their first 2 trimesters two see. After that it really depends on the woman. I encourage all performances of Birth to be prepared to support anyone who has a strong reaction to the play. While their is laughter in the play there are also many scenes that can trigger women who have not had a positive birth experience. In general these women embrace me afterwards and write to me telling me how healing it was to be at a play that honored their "day."

My husband is still moved every time he sees the play, cries every time he hears Lisa's story told and cries again at the end when Jillian gives birth surrounded by love and trust that her body "is not a lemon."

Please join us on Labor Day weekend...BOLD is going to be awesome!

Karen