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CHICAGO DANZTHEATRE ENSEMBLE PRESENTS THE CHICAGO PREMIERE OF
FUNNY, LIKE AN ABORTION
MARCH 10 - MARCH 30, 2025
GUEST REVIEW
By Barbara Belcore
How to Make Abortion Funny
Bianca Thompson (she/they) as “Monroe”
Photo by Anthony Robert La Penna Photography
I drove right past the theater address not realizing the performance of Rachel Bublitz's "Funny Like an Abortion" would take place in a church theater. Greeters guided me upstairs where chairs sat in rows in front of a stage set up as a slightly cluttered apartment that could be any vintage Chicago flat. The rest of the multipurpose room was staggered with facts about abortion history and key points in the history of reproductive rights. The audience was wonderfully diverse and the title of the play alone is fair warning of the darkly provocative and wholly political nature of the content.
(L to R): Saniafaith (she/her) as “Jade” and Bianca Thompson (she/they) as “Monroe”
Photo by Anthony Robert La Penna Photography
As the lights went down, A solo actress runs around the stage, talking to her home smart device, decorating for a party, inspiring laughs from the audience. A knock on the door signals one of several well placed opportunities for the performers to break character; This time to present a disclaimer directly to the audience NOT to try anything they see on stage at home. We then meet Monroe and Jade, two quirky best friends gathering to address an unwanted pregnancy in an all-too-real near future where it becomes clear that choice is not a word one can say out loud.
(L to R): Bianca Thompson (she/they) as “Monroe” and Saniafaith (she/her) as “Jade”
Photo by Anthony Robert La Penna Photography
The characters are well written in a way any close friendship pair can relate to: Monroe, the quirky, free spirit who makes light of even the most morbid of topics, and Jade, the serious, career-focused rule-follower who needs a little help loosening up. The actresses had tremendous chemistry and clearly enjoyed playing their well rehearsed roles making it seem like a closing performance as opposed to opening night. The dialogue is both risky and compelling, allowing for laughter in the face of discomfort.
(L to R): Saniafaith (she/her) as “Jade” and Bianca Thompson (she/they) as “Monroe”
Photo by Anthony Robert La Penna Photography
(L to R): Bianca Thompson (she/they) as “Monroe” and Saniafaith (she/her) as “Jade”
Photo by Anthony Robert La Penna Photography
The playwright did her research! As a midwife I found the topic both urgent and relevant. The facts were accurate and managed to be both grim and silly at the same time. Even the ending, which was true physical comedy genius, taught important lessons while leaving the finality gently up to interpretation. I strongly recommend anyone, regardless of your affiliation, go see this clever and thought provoking play.
Barbara is a Chicago-area home birth midwife, maker, theater enthusiast, avid reader, and mom of two quirky, creative teens. She is currently snuggling three cats who are perpetually convinced that they have never been fed.
(L to R): Bianca Thompson (she/they) as “Monroe” and Saniafaith (she/her) as “Jade”
Photo by Anthony Robert La Penna Photography
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE), located at 1650 W. Foster Ave, in collaboration with Fat Theater Project will present Funny Like an Abortion March 10 - 30. Monday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m. will be the one preview performance with the press opening Tuesday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m. Written by Rachel Bublitz and directed by Eileen Tull, Funny, Like an Abortion, a Chicago premiere, takes place Fridays through Sundays at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are pay-what-you-can with a suggested donation of $30. NOTE: Doors will open at 7 p.m. for each performance as there will be a gallery exhibition that comments on the social aspects of the femme experience focusing on the rights of women and femmes that are now under attack. A timeline of women’s history milestones will also be displayed. For additional information on participants and to purchase tickets visit DanzTheatre.org (https://www.danztheatre.org/funny-like-an-abortion.html).
(L to R): Saniafaith (she/her) as “Jade” and Bianca Thompson (she/they) as “Monroe”
Photo by Anthony Robert La Penna Photography
Set in a future America where even saying the word “abortion” is a crime, Monroe has just discovered that she is unexpectedly and unwantedly pregnant. She invites her best friend, Jade, over for a surprise abortion party in this darkly funny, devastatingly prescient play by Rachel Bublitz. Eileen Tull directs this searing Chicago premiere, co-produced by Chicago Danztheatre and Fat Theater Project.
(L to R): Saniafaith (she/her) as “Jade” and Bianca Thompson (she/they) as “Monroe”
Photo by Anthony Robert La Penna Photography
The cast of Funny Like an Abortion includes Bianca Thompson (she/they, Monroe) and Saniafaith (she/her, Jade), Kit Kelly (they/them, Monroe - understudy) and Erin Feldmen (she/her, Jade - understudy). The production team includes Ellyzabeth Adler (she/her, CDE founder and producer), Eileen Tull (she/her, director and producer), Naomi Flores (she/they, CDE community engagement director), Gail Gallagher (she/her, sound designer), Joshua Paul Weckesser (he/him, lighting designer), Christine Marie (she/her, puppet designer), Taylor Owen (he/him, stage manager), Mary Moore (she/her, props designer), Shellie DiSalvo (they/she, assistant director) and Davon Suttles (they, them choreography)
ABOUT FAT THEATRE PROJECT
Founded in 2022 by Eileen Tull, Fat Theater Project seeks to tell stories by/about/for/with fat artists. Sometimes the company creates plays about living in a fat body. Sometimes they do plays that are about people with all bodies. Their work is imaginative, compassionate, and bold. Fat Theater Project strives to pay artists for their work while also keeping art accessible for audiences.
Top: Saniafaith (she/her) as “Jade”
Bottom: Bianca Thompson (she/they) as “Monroe”
Photo by Anthony Robert La Penna Photography
ABOUT CHICAGO DANZTHEATRE ENSEMBLE
Founded in 2001, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE) is Chicago’s only multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to social justice and socially conscious work that builds community through the arts “one voice, one story, one person at a time.” CDE’s mission is to engage, inspire, and challenge the community, both onstage and in the classroom, through innovative and collaborative multidisciplinary storytelling to illuminate aspects of social issues. We do this in the genre of Tanztheatre, "which unites all art media to achieve an all-embracing, radical change in humankind.” Through our school-based art and performance programs, CDE helps students in Chicago schools explore their own creativity, supporting their social and emotional learning. CDE provides a physical and emotional space where community conversation and cultural change can happen.
For our performance series, CDE is dedicated to creating performances that blend together dance, theatre and visual art to tell stories about the human condition. We give an artistic voice to those who are not always heard.
Dedicated since our founding to diverse casting of age, body type and ethnicity
Consistently listed as a “Top Theater and Dance Performance to See”
by New City and Chicago Reader
Unique collaborations with the Veterans Art Museum, Poetry Center Chicago, Cantigny Museum, Neighborhood Writing Alliance, Voice of the City and numerous dance and theater companies
MacArthur Award Grantee for International Collaborations.
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is supported by The Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; Bayless Family Foundation, The Saints Foundation,The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; Innovation 80; Farny Wurlitzer Foundation; Mardi Gras Fund and the annual support of individual donors.
