Birth by Karen Brody, directed by Alley Collins

Birth is a play based on over one hundred interviews Karen Brody conducted with mothers across America who gave birth between 2000-2004. It tells the true stories of 8 women painting a portrait of how low-risk, educated women are giving birth in America today. Our production of Birth is part of an international movement to perform this play around Labor Day, Birth On Labor Day (BOLD). For more information about this movement visit the BOLD website

Pictures and Praise from 2007

The stories are not censored, nor are they sugar-coated. The actresses all deliver with such an intimacy that at times I forgot they were performers. It seemed as though I was hearing real recounts from these women, not lines they were reciting from a script.
Susan Zedella
Encore, September 2007

I FELT like I was attending all of the births and it was hard to stay seated; at times I wanted to get up and be with these women and help to comfort them as they gave birth. At other times I felt shameful, - "I should not be experiencing this birth over here in my seat, I'm watching a sacred event that should only include close friends and relatives." This play is as close to birth as you can get without actually attending a birth!
Rebecca Walton, CCE, CLA