Monique Coleman, Ana Gasteyer, Jenn Lyon And Kathy Najimy Headline Reading To Benefit A Is For 9/24

A reading of Paula Kamen's documentary play Jane: Abortion and the Underground will benefit A is For on Tuesday, September 24, 2019 at 7:00pm at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (224 Waverly Place). Julie Kline (Raising Jo, Theatre Row) directs a cast which includes Monique Coleman (High School Musical, Gimme Mo'), Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live, Wine Country for Netflix), Jenn Lyon (TNT's Claws), Kathy Najimy (Sister Act, VEEP), and Jeff Biehl (Machinal, Roundabout Theatre Company).

Before abortion was legal in the United States, women in Chicago knew who to call for help. From 1969 until 1972, Jane, the legendary feminist abortion service, was the one safe alternative for 11,000 women from all backgrounds. The women who ran the service were mostly unassuming: college students, "hippie housewives," and antiwar activists. But they led extraordinary double lives, running the most active underground abortion service in modern history.

Jane: Abortion and the Underground is based on original interviews with the women who ran and used this service as well as the men who supported it.

The reading will be followed by a panel discussion with Pascale Bernard (Vice President of Public Affairs Planned Parenthood of New York City), playwright and journalist Paula Kamen, reproductive rights historian Felicia Kornbluh (Professor of History and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, University of Vermont), and Angelique Imani Rodriguez (Senior Editor, Fiction and Short Story for Raising Mothers) as well as women who had underground abortions referred by or related to Jane in the late 1960s: activist Sunny Chapman and Jackie.

Additional casting will be announced soon.

The benefit reading of Jane: Abortion and the Underground will take place Tuesday, September 24, 2019 at 7:00pm at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (224 Waverly Place, near 7th Ave.; Subway: 1 to Christopher or A/C or 2/3 to 14th Street). Tickets for this one-night only event are $50 and may be purchased in advance at http://aisforjane.eventbrite.com.

Donations may also be made at https://www.aisfor.org/jane.

All proceeds from the reading benefit A is For, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing reproductive rights and ending the stigma against abortion care.