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Religious icon-style photo of a young woman with long dark brown hair, wearing a short-sleeve dark orange knit top, arms crossed at the wrists in front of her chest. She holds a small green bulb-like fruit or vegetable in her left hand, with a small leafy herb-like plant dangling from her right hand. A yellow halo surrounds her head, with the words Hypothetical Baby. Below: Written and performed by Rachel Cairns. Directed by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster.
Religious icon-style photo of a young woman with long dark brown hair, wearing a short-sleeve dark orange knit top, arms crossed at the wrists in front of her chest. She holds a small green bulb-like fruit or vegetable in her left hand, with a small leafy herb-like plant dangling from her right hand. A yellow halo surrounds her head, with the words Hypothetical Baby. Below: Written and performed by Rachel Cairns.
Photo: Kristine Cofsky

One woman’s reckoning

with the practical and existential considerations in deciding to become a parent… or not.

Photo: Kristine Cofsky

Home Events Performance Hypothetical Baby

Hypothetical Baby

A time-travelling exploration of the factors that shape our reproductive lives

Award-winning theatre artist and Aborsh podcast creator Rachel Cairns, with support from The Howland Company, presents the world premiere of Hypothetical Baby at the Tarragon Theatre Extraspace from December 8 to 17, 2023.

An unintended pregnancy, followed by an unhelpful doctor’s appointment, leads to a Christmas Eve abortion and one woman’s reckoning with the practical and existential considerations in deciding to become a parent… or not.

Hypothetical Baby is a time-travelling exploration that grapples with the personal and societal factors that shape our reproductive lives and the intricate relationship between choice, change and loss. Rachel Cairns mixes data and drama in this autobiographical work to publicly talk about abortion the way we do privately – with neurotic vulnerability, unflinching honesty and frank irreverence.

“Abortion exists at the nexus of some of the most foundational and divisive elements of culture: politics, religion, money, sex. It is fertile territory.

At the same time, I had a pretty basic, run-of-the-mill abortion. The tension between these extremities – the ordinary and the extraordinary – is what prompted me to start writing about my experience. Considering how complex and common abortion is, you’d think we’d have more stories about it. This show is my story.”

– Rachel Cairns, playwright & performer

About Rachel Cairns

Rachel Cairns is a multi-disciplinary theatre artist: writer, director and theatre performer. More recently, she created and hosted Aborsh, a podcast about abortion in Canada, which won a Planned Parenthood Choice Award for excellence in sexual and reproductive health and rights advocacy. She believes in staying curious and following her bliss – and her favourite stories are “the kind that encompass the duality of life and remind us of a universal spirit that connects us all”.

About the Howland Company

The Howland Company strives for innovation on and off the stage. They’re an artist-led and art-driven theatre company, dedicated to the production of electric stories that speak to the world and the times in which we live. Through an agile, collective-leadership model, Howland aims to build new operating structures that empower its artists with agency, skills and growth opportunities. They seek to challenge and inspire audiences through productions, training and community initiatives like their Reading Group, fostering a new wave of theatre makers and theatre goers.

Poster for the play Hypothetical Baby with text and a photo. Written and performed by Rachel Cairns. Directed by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster. Below the text, a photo, fractured up the middle, of a young woman with long dark brown hair, wearing a short-sleeve dark orange knit top gazes thoughtfully off to her right. Bottom left: Presented by The Howland Company at Tarragon Theatre December 8-17.

 

(Photo credits: Rachel Cairns, photo by Kristine Cofsky. Poster Design by Hannah Campbell.)

 

Event details

Hosted by: Rachel Cairns, with support from The Howland Company

Type of event: theatre performance

Written & performed by: Rachel Cairns

Directed by: Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster

Dates: Friday, December 8 – Sunday, December 17, 2023.

Start time:

  • Tuesday – Saturday @ 7:30 PM ET (Friday, December 15 is an ASL-interpreted performance);
  • Matinées on Saturday and Sunday @ 2:00 PM ET.

Duration: 75 minutes (no intermission)

Cost: C$25.00 – $50.00. Tarragon Subscribers are eligible for a discount; contact Patron Services for your coupon code.

Location: Tarragon Theatre, Extraspace, 30 Bridgman Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5R 1X3.

Booking link: Book your tickets here

Contact Details: Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave, Toronto, ON, M5R 1X3, Canada; Box office: 416-531-1827, tarragontheatre.com

 

Content warning: For audiences 16+. This production contains mature content, including coarse language, and discussion of abortion, miscarriage, sexual assault, sex and gender.

Accessibility: Info here. The performance on Friday, December 15 at 7:30 PM ET features ASL interpretation.