Cycles, an original ensemble created dance theatre piece, is at TheatreWorks Sept 21 and 22 at 8pm and Sept 23 at 3pm.

Birth by Karen Brody is at TheatreWorks Sept 28 and 29 at 8pm and Sept 30 at 3pm. (There will also be a free BOLD Red Tent Event on Saturday, Sept 29 at 2pm at TheatreWorks where women are invited to share their birthing stories in the spirit of community support.)

Tickets are $8 for students and seniors and $10 general admission. Both 3pm matinees are Pay What You Can. Call 274-1000 for reservations.

For more information, please continue reading...

Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe Produces Original Work
Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe is doing a project this year called Cycles: Before, Between and Beyond. The company offered a series of workshops that examined birth, childhood and periods of change in people's lives and how it transforms them and makes them stronger. This is an ensemble created performance work, mainly by non-actors and non-dancers. Two of the people in Cycles had life threatening illnesses or accidents that changed them in some way, and one of the performers is very frank about how his bipolar diagnosis transformed him. Bill Baker, the troupe's Artistic Director, states that he feels very blessed to have an ensemble so willing to put their real lives on stage. Our Own Voice hopes that you will join them for this examination and celebration of the human experience.

Our Own Voice will repeat workshops in the Spring and re-do the Cycles show in late June and early July in conjunction with another show called Letting Go, which will examine end of life issues and the grieving process.

Cycles is at TheatreWorks Sept 21 and 22 at 8pm and Sept 23 at 3pm. Tickets are $8 for students and seniors and $10 general admission. The 3pm matinee is Pay What You Can.

Check out Our Own Voice on the web at http://www.ourownvoice.org.

Memphis Premiere of Birth by Karen Brody
In 2006 during the month of September, women around the world as far away as Malta and New Delhi joined together in presenting over 40 performances of the play Birth. Playwright Karen Brody wrote Birth after interviewing 118 women across America about their birth stories. Brody's play tells the stories of eight of those women, who represent the spectrum of birthing women in the United States today.

Brody launched BOLD (Birth On Labor Day) in early 2006, after receiving critical acclaim for a number of commercial performances of Birth in U.S. cities. With a national cesarean section rate of over 30 percent and with half of women experiencing labor induction in some form, Brody's mission was to bring attention to the nation's (and the world's) maternity care crises. She hopes to get women in local communities talking about birth, learning the truth about maternity care, making choices and making change.

Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe is producing the play locally this year in an effort to get the Memphis community talking about how to make birth more mother-friendly. Cast member and co-director Kimberly Baker found out about the play when she was pregnant with her second child. Baker states that while she was teaching a prenatal yoga class one of her students shared information with her regarding this international movement. As a long-term company member of Our Own Voice Baker felt like Birth matched the company's mission to empower people through theatre, as well as her personal passion for pregnancy, childbirth, and the value of each precious child that is brought into our world. Baker truly believes that theatre has the power to help shape a revolution and is excited to be a part of something that really might help to motivate change in our community.

Birth plays at TheatreWorks at 2085 Monroe on September 28 & 29 at 8pm. The Pay-What-You Can matinee is on Sunday, September 30 at 3pm. There will be opportunities to engage in dialogue with the performers and with experts in the field after each performance. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $8 for students and seniors. A portion of the proceeds will go to support the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, a national non-profit organization that strives to make maternity care mother-friendly in the United States.

Our Own Voice is also hosting a BOLD Red Tent Event at TheatreWorks at 2pm on Saturday, September 29. The purpose of this event is to provide a free forum for women to tell their birth stories in order to educate and empower women in our community regarding birth. Visit www.ourownvoice.org or call 274-1000 for more information regarding Birth and the BOLD Red Tent Event.