Upcoming Events at Stageworks Theatre
Thu Oct 17, 7:00 PM - Thu Oct 17, 9:00 PM
1120 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL 33602
Community: Channelside
Description
“Jane: Abortion and the Underground” by Paula Kamen is a powerful, part-documentary staged reading that tells the story of the Jane Collective, an underground network that provided safe abortions in Chicago before Roe V Wade.
Event Details
Written by Paula Kamen, Jane: Abortion and the Underground is a timely and provocative part-documentary drama about “the best-kept secret” in Chicago, “Jane,” an underground abortion service that operated from 1969 to 1973. The script is based on Kamen’s original interviews, including very rare interviews with women not in Jane who used the illegal service. This network, run by a feminist collective of mostly middle-class housewives and students, was the safe alternative for an estimated 8,000- 11,000 Chicago women of all backgrounds (as reported by Jane members). In all those years, “Jane,” which boasted no fatalities and operated in private apartments throughout the city, was well trusted by and commonly received referrals from police, university administrators, social workers, clergy, and hospital staff. It gives an inspiring and unapologetic story — too relevant today — of feminist resistance and organizing to meet women’s most immediate and critical needs. The play also reveals how even under the best of circumstances, illegal abortion can be harrowing.
