TOKOPHOBIA is an interview-based play exploring choice, disparities in the U.S. healthcare system, and our culturally created fear of pregnancy and birth. The show is based on a series of verbatim interviews with mothers, birth partners, and medical professionals, and gives voice to birthing people and their experiences in a way that is imperative – yet rarely discussed – in our current cultural climate.
Jenny Bokoch Gillett is a performer, producer, documentary theater maker, and practicing full-spectrum doula.
Saturday is Babes-in-Arms Night! On Saturday, we will host a special family-friendly performance of TOKOPHOBIA. Grown-ups are welcome to bring babes in arms (under the age of 1) to the Saturday show. We will provide resources for diaper changing, breast/bottle feeding, and pumping. We look forward to welcoming you and your little one(s)!
Content Advisory: This play includes depictions of medical violence.
Playwright’s note:
Back in 2017, I embarked upon a journey to become a doula, which led me to hear several mixed things about the way our culture addresses the birth process. Largely due to this experience, and to my own path to pregnancy and parenthood, I have created TOKOPHOBIA, an interview-based theatre piece exploring the culture of birth in America.
I have spent several years connecting with mothers, birth partners, doulas, and medical professionals to discuss their experiences, and have collected dozens of recorded interviews in the process. Each selection featured in TOKOPHOBIA highlights an important part of the birth cycle, and illuminates conversations that our culture often shies away from discussing.
TOKOPHOBIA gives voice to women and their sometimes shocking experiences with the system in a way that is imperative – yet rarely discussed – in our current cultural climate.