My Body No Choice is a 2022 American stage drama made up of eight collected monologues. The show was created and directed by Molly Smith, the Artistic Director of Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Each of the monologues that make up the play were commissioned from eight different female playwrights.[1] The play was created in opposition of the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which effectively overturned the constitutional right to abortion that had been established by Roe v. Wade in 1973.[2] During the same time that it was being shown at Arena Stage, twenty other venues across the United States put on a production of the play.
Background
In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its judgement in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. ___ (2022). The Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade (1973) on the grounds that the substantive right to abortion was not "deeply rooted in this Nation's history or tradition", nor considered a right when the Due Process Clause was ratified in 1868. The court said this "right" was unknown in U.S. law until Roe v. Wade. The court held that the constitution did not include an individual's right to abortion. This decision also overruled Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), and upended more than two decades of federal policy and medical practice. The ruling returned to individual states the power to regulate any aspect of abortion not protected by federal law.
Molly Smith, Artistic Director of Arena Stage, commissioned eight playwrights to write monologues in response to this action. The works were to be produced together under the title No Body No Choice.
The stage show was premiered in an October to early November run in 2022 at the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle in Washington, D.C., part of the Arena Stage complex. More than twenty readings and productions were also held in various universities and theaters across the country, in an artists' response to the ruling.[1]
Monologues
The short pieces consist of both fiction and non-fiction monologues that address issues of women's sexuality, autonomy, and freedom of choice. Several address decisions related to their bodies and having abortions.
Authors include established and rising writers: Lee Cataluna, Fatima Dyfan, Dale Orlandersmith, Sarah Ruhl, Mary Hall Surface, V (formerly writing as Eve Ensler, and Lisa Loomer. One woman chose to remain Anonymous.
Cast:
- Joy Jones — a woman contemplates having learned that her mother attempted to get an abortion after learning she was pregnant. Despite being unwanted, the woman became a success as an adult.
- - a student at a Catholic high school talks about the response to her having spoken there in favor of abortion.
- - a middle-aged woman recounts a miscarriage and related required surgery to avoid infection, with fear that such medical emergencies could be criminalized under punitive abortion laws.
- Dani Stoller — in "Battered Baby", a woman who suffered childhood and adult abuse feels newfound freedom after having been able to choose to have an abortion. The date is 4 July US Independence Day.[2][1][3]
- Toni Rae Salmi, an older woman muses over her mother's unexpected decision to stop chemotherapy that was recommended by her doctor. She had always gone along with authority figures before but has decided for herself on this issue.[2][1]
- Tori Gomez — a woman in the post-Dobbs world who lives in a state with severe restrictions and struggles to overcome obstacles and get an abortion.
- Deirdre Staples — a free thinking woman recounts her coming of age, sexual awakening, and successful efforts to avoid pregnancy.
In the monologue by Sarah Ruhl, a student shares experience about speaking in favor of abortion at a Catholic school. The monologue by Mary Hall Surface shares a disturbing account of a miscarriage to avoid risk of infection or hemorrhage, and expresses concern whether such medical emergencies would be criminalized in post-the June 2022 US supreme court judgement. The remaining monologues more broadly explore topics of bodily autonomy and freedom of choice.[2] In Fatima Dyfan's piece, “A Rest Stop,” a free thinking, venturesome (Deidre Staples) presents her sexual awakening and successful effort to avoid getting pregnant. In Lee Cataluna's “Things My Mother Told Me”, an older woman (Toni Rae Salmi) dwells on her mother's unexpected decision to stop her doctor-recommended chemotherapy.[2][1]
Lisa Loomer's “Roxy” is played as the last monologue in the sequence.[1][4]
| Monologue name | Playwright | Actress playing the role @ Arena Stage's Kogod Cradle Washington D.C. | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|
| An Uplifting High School Graduation Speech | Sarah Ruhl | Jennifer Mendenhall | a student at a Catholic school makes a speech on behalf of abortion rights, which the Church opposes |
| Chance | Mary Hall Surface | Shanara Gabrielle | a middle-aged woman suffers a miscarriage |
| A Rest Stop | Fatima Dyfan | Deidre Staples | coming-of-age and sexual awakening |
| The Circumstances of My Birth | Anon | Joy Jones | A successful woman reflects on learning that her mother had sought an abortion long before she was born. |
| Battered Baby | V (formerly Eve Ensler) | Dani Stoller | Survivor of child abuse and domestic violence, gains autonomy with abortion. |
| Gravitas | Dael Orlandersmith | Felicia P. Fields | body shaming |
| Things My Mother Told Me | Lee Cataluna | Toni Rae Salmi | End of life; a woman decides to end chemotherapy to concentrate on quality of life |
| Roxy | Lisa Loomer | Tori Gomez | Anger about the bind that state laws can create after the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade |
Reception
"According to Peter Marks, "let women decide for their own bodies" is the simple message this show intends to give; it is not ground breaking but ground claiming. Director Molly Smith said she received some complaints from anti-abortion patrons, but also received substantial support from supporters of abortion choice.[2][1]
See also
- Abortion debate
- Abortion-rights movements
- My body, my choice
- Our Bodies, Ourselves
- Planned Parenthood
- Sexual and reproductive health and rights
- Theater in the United States
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Marks, Peter (October 21, 2022). "As America votes, abortion rights take center stage at a D.C. theater". Washington Post.
- ^ a b c d e f Smith, David (October 27, 2022). "My Body No Choice: taking the fight for abortion rights to the stage". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ V Ensler, Eve (January 31, 2023). "3. Mother Hunger". Reckoning. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 62–66. ISBN 9781635579055.
.. I had always despised July 4, but for the first time the fireworks nearby were sounding my bodily autonomy and liberation and not a world war. I toasted each explosion .. This abortion was the first real choice I had ever made about my body. .. My body that had been battered raped, denigrated, and taken by clumsy aggressive boys in the dark. My body that had been erased, .. was suddenly empty and alive. ..
- ^ Howes, Sophia (October 24, 2022). "Brave voices raise consciousness in 'My Body No Choice' at Arena Stage". DC Theater Arts. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
.. Last week they shut down the clinic near my school — so I drove to another state and found a clinic near where my mom lives. But there was a twenty-four-hour waiting period, and I'd already driven a day to get there... I mean, I had to get back to my job — I mean, I can't afford to do this and lose the pay! .. "So the law here says I have the right to do this — and the law back home wants to put me in jail?!" What kind of country is this? What's gonna happen here? Roe v Wade was there for one reason — to allow me to choose! ..
