Award-Winning Show FERTILE Heads To Binge Fringe!

After winning a Producers' Encore Award at this year's Hollywood Fringe Festival and a successful engagement at the Whitefire Theatre, the hit show Fertile by star solo artist Heather Dowling is coming back for a special performance at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Santa Monica Playhouse as part of the Binge Fringe Festival of Free Theatre.

In Fertile, we meet Jenny, a woman with a plan...a plan to get pregnant. Everyone keeps telling her that time is running out; she just turned 35, after all. So, when those urine tests keep coming back negative, Jenny decides to take action and fix the problem. That's when she runs into real problems and real questions about fertility and motherhood. As Jenny faces the world of "mom options" - egg freezing, in-vitro, adoption, and more - the conversation about the expectation of procreation really begins. In a sea of outside opinions from her friends, her doctors, a beloved neighbor, and even God, Jenny must ultimately look within to discover what motherhood means to her, what it means to be fertile.

The show's tremendous success and praise from both patrons and critics at Fringe and at her run at Whitefire Theatre called for Dowling to keep it going and look to where the show could go next. And she is more than thrilled to take part in Binge Fringe.

"I'm thankful to be a part of this wonderful festival that represents so many diverse and talented artists," she said. "And the grants that make this festival possible demonstrate the commitment these communities have to bring the arts to life and make it accessible for people. It's a beautiful thing."

In its fourth year, the festival features performances by Santa Monica and Los Angeles based artists and companies in all varieties of theatre--comedy, drama, solo, Shakespeare, slam poetry, etc. To celebrate its dedication to supporting the arts and bringing it to the community, admission to all Binge Fringe shows is free.

Fertile came from the successful two-year run and national tour of Dowling's debut solo show Unemployed. Finally., which premiered at the 2015 Hollywood Fringe, earning awards. Driven by the heartfelt audience response to her stories of struggle with fertility, Dowling decided to share her story more completely and interviewed dozens of women (and men, too) to discover, uncover and encourage a conversation about procreation as an empowered choice.

After the festival, Dowling is looking at another local run early next year, as well as the possibility of performing in the L.A. Women's Theatre Festival this Spring, and potentially taking the show on the road. For now, she's focusing on taking part in another exciting festival with her fellow artists.

Tickets are FREE but reservations are required and can be made by calling 310-394-9779 ext. 1 or emailing theatre@santamonicaplayhouse.com.

Booking email must include: show/event title, full name of ticket holder, contact phone number & email of ticket holder, and how many seats to reserve. Limited to six per reservation.

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