FERTILE Continues The Conversation at the Whitefire Theatre

During the two-year run and tour of her debut solo show Unemployed. Finally., one of the stories that audiences responded to most was when artist Heather Dowling shared her personal challenges with fertility. Driven by the heartfelt audience response, 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.

Since she debuted her show Fertile last summer, it has earned several awards, played to sold-out houses and participated in festivals. Next up, Dowling is taking the hit show to SoloFest, the largest solo theatre performance on the West coast, on January 29 at the Whitefire Theatre. From there, more festivals and a possible tour.

"What I went through personally with infertility opened my eyes. I was shocked to discover how many women, how many couples had been through some version of what I went through...and they weren't talking about it!" she said. "I felt like writing this show, sharing my story--and the stories of the people I interviewed about fertility and parenthood--would support people, encourage them and even give them a chance to laugh about it, and maybe cry a little, too."

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 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 SoloFest for the second time, after a debut there with Unemployed. Finally. in 2016.

After the festival, Dowling is looking at 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 and continuing the conversation.

"I have had so many people come up to me after the show to say thank you," Dowling said. "They say, things like 'This is my story' or, 'I can't tell you how much this helped me. I'm going through this right now.' It's been especially powerful to hear appreciation from women who felt vilified because they never wanted children, and from men who felt like their part in parenthood is so often overlooked. There have been so many beautiful stories that people have shared with me, it's kind of overwhelming."

FOR TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION: www.FertileConversation.com

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