Fringe Show Reviews

Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

Birth, a Reader's Theatre Presentation

Written by: Karen Brody

Presented by: Birth Roots Doula Collective / Winnipeg, MB

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Our Rating: Your Average Rating:

07/17/2010 7:29 PM | Comments: 0

Shouting at a labouring woman to push while counting down her contractions is pretty stupid, when you think about it. She is going to push. At least that’s what happens in a childbirth that’s allowed to progress naturally. And that’s the point of this dramatic storytelling about birth, presented in the style of The Vagina Monologues.

The volunteer cast from Winnipeg is composed of six women storytellers and two supporting cast members (another woman and a man) who bring emotional authenticity to their roles. Playwright Karen Brody’s compelling stories illustrate the disconnect that happens when the needs of women are ignored in favour of the “safety” of the medical model of modern childbirth.

Too often, it seems, medical support equals interference that sends otherwise low-risk births wildly off in directions mother nature never intended. Sometimes funny, often visceral, Birth is thought-provoking and emotional theatre.

— Wendy Burke

From the official Fringe Festival program:

"Birth", a Reader's Theatre Presentation, by writer and childbirth advocate Karen Brody, captures the truth about childbirth today. The play, performed as part of a global activist theatre movement known as BOLD, uncovers the secret lives of low-risk women in labour as they discover strategies for obtaining a powerful birth experience.

This staged reading is a fundraiser for Winnipeg's new Birth Centre.

www.birthrootsdoulas.com

Warnings: Language,

RECOMMENDED: General Audience

60 min

Planetarium Auditorium (Venue 10), to Friday

Tickets: $8
Discount Tickets: $6 for Students, Seniors

Babes in arms permitted.

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