Displaying items by tag: TimeLine Uptown

There are always two sides to every story. The writer or playwright will tell a story offering key details and scenes that move the story forward in the way that leads the audience to a message or conclusion the writer or playwright want to convey. The difficulty of any story writing, in any form, is what to include or what to exclude in your story. That is something that can be controlled. The other difficulty is trying to convey a message or point to your audience, one you want them to walk away with, chew on, think about. This difficulty is completely out of the writer’s control. Attempting to tell two sides of the same story adds a level of complexity for the writer and the audience and it’s not an easy feat to pull it off. The Birth of The Pill takes aims at just this style of storytelling, the world premiere play now playing at Timeline Theatre.

In the mid‑20th century, a radical dream begins to take shape: a simple pill that would give women full control over their reproductive futures. Championing this groundbreaking idea are feminist activist Margaret Sanger, scientist Gregory Pincus, gynecologist John Rock, and philanthropist Katharine McCormick—visionaries working under intense secrecy amid legal, scientific, and religious roadblocks. Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico, clinical trials raise ethical questions, as the lives and bodies of women like Ramona Delgado are exploited in the quest for scientific advancement. Commissioned and developed by TimeLine and based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jonathan Eig (King: A Life), the world premiere of The Birth of The Pill explores the transformative power of vision and invention, alongside the costs of pursuing both by any means necessary.

The Birth of the Pill is not a lift and shift theatre adaptation of the book of the same name. The book was written as a non-fiction historical account of how “The Pill” came to fruition. It is clinical, literal, factual. It recounts the stories of the women (Sanger and McCormick) who spearheaded the campaign to develop The Pill on behalf of women everywhere. But The Birth of The Pill, like many historical accounts, does not discuss the lives of the very real, very lost voices of the very real women whose lives were forever changed and affected by the Trials conducted in Puerto Rico. Those women’s stories was a different story altogether, one the book’s author did not aim to tell. It wasn’t an intentional dismissal of the storyline, but a concurrent one, a differing viewpoint, a second side to the story.

The cast of "The Birth of the Pill" at TimeLine Theatre Company.

The play, written by playwright Jessica Huang and directed by Sandra Marquez, aims to give that second storyline a voice, the story of the Puerto Rican women who were tested and experimented on in pursuit of this revolutionary form of birth control. The key actors in this play include Janet Ulrich Brooks as Margaret Sanger, María Victoria Martínez as Ramona Delgado, Mitchel J. Fain as Goody Pincus, and Mary Beth Fisher as Katharine McCormick. Through the narration of Ramona Delgado we are guided through history alongside Margaret Sanger from her post in the first ever Planned Parenthood in Brooklyn, NY, through the funding, research, and later development of The Pill. While well intentioned, the play takes a considerable detour from its source material at the critical point of human trials to examine that second storyline, namely, the toll and morality of human Trials. There is a poignant moment between the narrator and Sanger wherein a philosophical question is posed: Given everything you know, the impact it had, would you do anything differently? That is where this play should have ended.

The character of Delgado is a valiant attempt to write the women who trialed The Pill into the story of The Birth of the Pill but it’s a completely different perspective and is not given its due. Perhaps that was the intention of the playwright. Throughout the play, the main character, our narrator, is sidelined, dismissed, overlooked, even silenced. It’s a subtle and artistic representation of how the trial participants were treated. At a key point in the play we move away from the historical retelling of The Birth of the Pill, abruptly changing narratives. The light and humorous narration takes a sharp turnaround to become one with a modern viewpoint. It criticized the ethical and moral viewpoints of the main characters, their actions, their decisions, diverging away from the source material. Published in 2014, the book could not have accounted for or discussed the cultural, social, and moral impacts the 2020s had on the story of The Pill. I don’t believe the author was ill-intended by not accounting for the lives of the trial participants, or examining the moral and despicable acts committed in that state. The Birth of The Pill tries to rectify and almost apologize for this unintentional oversight leaving the audience with a hurried and heavy-handed message that leaves you questioning: which story was the play trying to tell? The story of the birth of the pill or that of the women who were tested on? It’s not the same story, it’s the second side to the same story.

Jonathan Eig (Mitchell J. Fain, left) and Ramona Delgado (María Victoria Martínez, right) discuss the complexities of historical narratives.

Not every play can pull off the duality of storytelling, where two differing viewpoints are given the stage. The Birth of the Pill is a story worthy of telling and seeing. It was humorous, moving, challenging, and overall compelling. It can stand on its own, with a simple yet complex ending on a philosophical dilemma. It deserves to be told on its own, without a modern, critical perspective and narrative. Then there is the different viewpoint. Another side to the same story that deserves its own time, its own space, unhurried, told in full, with all the vitriol and venom many of the acts committed on the path to progress deserve. The Birth of the Pill play inadvertently, or possibly intentionally, provided a foundation and springboard for a new story to come to light, one that given its own voice, time, and space, would only add to the power of the original story. There are two sides to every story. This particular story deserves both to be heard, just not at the same time.

The Birth of the Pill Runs through October 4, 2026, at TimeLine Theatre (5035 N. Broadway, Chicago). Set you calendar reminders and be sure to get your tickets at https://timelinetheatre.com/events/birth-pill/.

*Extended through October 11th!

Timeline Theatre unveils their chic, new Uptown home with its inaugural production–Henrik Ibsen’s ever-relevant “An Enemy of the People”. A streamlined text by acclaimed playwright Amy Herzog cuts right to the bone in this fast-paced version straight from Broadway.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Timeline chose to open their new space with Ibsen’s classic play about a town that prioritizes economics over public health. History continues to repeat itself. Whispers of AI data centers seemed to be on everyone’s lips during the intermission as the modern day parallel is impossible to ignore. Timeline, who is known for their dramaturgical installations by Maren Robinson, doesn't shy away from the ugly reality that our Great Lakes are under attack from the tech billionaire class who aim to guzzle ungodly amounts of our fresh water. 

The play begins on a chipper note, an economically downtrodden town brims with excitement for their new spa and resort that is sure to boost local prospects. That is until plucky Dr. Thomas Stockmann (Will Allan) makes a chilling discovery about the contaminated water source. At first his friends at the local newspaper are behind his decision to inform the townspeople, but as his brother Peter, the mayor (Behzad Dabu), becomes involved support begins to waver. Soon his adult daughter Petra (Campbell Krausen) is his only ally. 

Petra Stockmann (Campbell Krausen, background from left), Hovstad (Grayson Kennedy), and Captain Horster (Charles Andrew Gardner) watch attentively as Dr. Thomas Stockmann (Will Allan, foreground) reviews shocking scientific revelations.

Herzog’s version is more akin to a chamber play than Ibsen’s, perhaps less grand in scale but certainly easier to digest. She also inserts some modern political flourishes that give more depth to the female protagonist Petra. With a slimmer cast and script, individual performances stand out and the intensity is more sustained. And by the second act, the audience becomes part of the cast in a way. This device works especially well because of the brilliant performances of this intimate cast.

“An Enemy of the People” becomes just as frustrating as Miller’s “The Crucible”. That infectious sense of outrage comes down to Will Allan’s devastatingly honest portrayal of a man who loses everything for the pursuit of truth. Allan has a gift for physicality, often interjecting some levity wherever possible. Audience participation becomes hard to contain as he’s continuously silenced by the newspaper staff and his greedy brother. Behzad Dabu opts for a more pragmatic interpretation of the mayor than straight up villain. In fact, there are moments where despite the poisonous water, you might find yourself agreeing with him, therein lies the danger. The emotional anchor of the show is Campbell’s Krausen’s Petra. Much like Allan’s performance, the shift from light to dark is heartbreaking.

Timeline’s glow up from Wellington to North Broadway is something to marvel at. Uptown has gained a Steppenwolf-level theater. Legendary Chicago director Ron OJ Parson brings a certain sophistication well deserving of this sleek 250-seat theater. Everything is just right here. John Culbert’s stylish set and stage magic really fills this gorgeous new performance space. Uptown really is quite lucky to have this wonderful new theater in its backyard. 

Through June 27 at Timeline Theatre. 5035 N Broadway. 773-281-8463 x1

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com.