ABSTRACT

I want to begin this discussion by describing a personal narrative I saw performed by a woman I will call Leslie. It takes place on a bare stage, except for one white chair, placed downstage, left-center. Leslie locates her story during the time when she was deciding whether or not to have an abortion. Sitting in the chair, her hands constantly rub against one another. She speaks about gathering information about the availability and cost of abortion services in her area, about those she encountered who tried to keep her from terminating her pregnancy, about the difficulty she had in discussing her pregnancy with her parents, about her fears that an abortion might keep her from having children in the future, and about the date rape that led to her pregnancy. As these details unfold, pictures of infants and small children are projected on her body. In the background, right wing legislative efforts to stop abortions are document by a power point presentation. Reverberating with and against these images, she tells her narrative. Her story becomes a moving account of how one individual, trapped between cultural logics, tries to decide if she should have an abortion. At the end of the performance, the audience does not know what choice she made. The performance, however, implicitly makes a pro-choice case.