Their bodies, their selves: 'Funny, Like an Abortion' gets to fundamentals at IF Theatre

 
The title of this play may seem to trivialize a serious issue, considering decades of intense 
division among Americans over it. But "Funny, Like an Abortion" turns out to strike deep into whether carrying a fetus to term is an obligation or a matter of choice. 

Jade (Racbel Kelso) tries to calm Monroe (Alicia Ana Hernandez-Roulet).

The "funny" part is the decision of one woman to make a game of a do-it-yourself approach, bringing in a close friend to the choice under the cover of staging a surprise birthday party for her. Rachel Bublitz's "dark comedy in one scene" opened Friday evening at IF Theatre, co-produced by Theatre Unchained and American Lives Theatre. It will continue through Nov. 23.

The collaboration involves Megan Ann Jacobs and Chris Saunders as co-directors, with contributions threading both organizations throughout the realization of the show. Alicia Ana Hernandez-Roulet plays Monroe, a pregnant preschool teacher who feels forced to undertake the life-changing action; Rachel Kelso is Jade, her better-off friend and ostensible honoree of the party, now turned ally and adviser.

Any close friendship is subject to manipulation, especially when the manipulating friend is desperate and fearful of legal consequences. Monroe is by temperament perfect at staging the event in her apartment, hidden from the world (she hopes, despite one last transmission from a smashed smart box she calls Butler). 

In her bizarre game, the world of DIY abortifacients parades before the audience, which may share Jade's frequent "ewww — don't do that!" response to the gift-bagged selection. Where's it going to go when it starts with Drano and continues through a believe-it-or-not range of nostrums and sketchy folk wisdom? 

Hernandez-Roulet's performance was spectacular in executing the plan as Monroe seeks a way to transcend her suffering in a society where abortion is no longer legal anywhere. Her friendship with Jade is put under strain by her machinations, which are suffused with flamboyance as well as passion. Hernandez-Roulet's gestural virtuosity was fascinating to watch; the abandon of her extravagantly voiced pain can be felt on our pulses. Kelso's Jade is quick to respond with objections and support across the full range of the women's shared love.

During one climactic speech, Monroe ascends to a full-throated critique of male dominance over women, the denial of female autonomy throughout history. The hints of self-abuse, some of them parodic, play a role in the subjection of women and the desperate measures they may take to escape men's control.  The dance that Jade begins with Monroe, conceived as a way to mutually relieve tension, turns into a belly-beating fury in Monroe's version, her face distorted by anguished desperation. It's one of the most memorable moments in the show, rising to an iconic level.

The actors step out of their roles at the end, with a recital of the topic's woes in contemporary America. There is no clear, safe resolution of Monroe's situation, they remind us. What remains is the playwright's salute to female friendship. The bond between Jade and Monroe is unmistakable. As the old feminist slogan has it: Sisterhood is powerful!

Some playgoers on either side of the issue might question the way religious faith is put to the side. Often used as a club to beat back the reproductive-rights side, one strain of Christian doctrine attempts to knock the moral props out from under the view that women's health and control of their own bodies are paramount and worth defending. 

In contrast, Bublitz is focused on the injustice of the power relationship that marginalizes women's freedom to act independently. Across the brightly lit display of the Jacobs-Saunders set, the audience takes in, over 90 minutes, the increasingly messy results of trying to make a funny homemade game out of reproductive health — its prohibitions, dangers, and opportunities. 

Funny, like an abortion, yes. But is that funny-haha or funny-peculiar and funny-strange? This production tilts toward the latter in absorbing ways, while also being vigorously amusing.

[Photo: Indy Ghost Light]