BREED OR BUST Comes to The Marsh Next Month

After a successful run in Berkeley earlier this year, award-winning actor, director, and “story midwife” Joyful Raven will return to The Marsh in a limited engagement of her timely, entertaining, and thought-provoking solo show Breed or Bust. More relevant than ever, with women's reproduction rights at the forefront of the upcoming turbulent election, this compelling one-woman production takes audiences on a subversive and hilarious journey through female reproductive options, from the taboos of abortion to the nuances often left out of these important conversations.

Breed or Bust blends unabashedly honest storytelling, stand-up comedy, and dark humor, as Raven reckons with her reproductive choices and contends with her primal baby-making instincts. With her fertility clock ticking down, she reflects on the complex relationship between womanhood and motherhood. Should she surrender to the role of weird aunt, or should she start a GoFundMe to freeze her geriatric eggs? 

Before coming to The Marsh, Breed or Bust enjoyed a critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it garnered an Off West End Theatre Award (Offie) nomination. This riveting and riotous show made its world premiere at PlayGround San Francisco in its 2022 Solo Performance Festival and was given an encore limited run in fall 2022 at the Potrero Stage.

Breed or Bust has also been performed in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, where it received a Producer’s Encore Award, and was nominated for Best Comedy amongst more than 400 shows. BroadwayWorld hailed Breed or Bust as “heartbreaking and deeply heartfelt, taking a serious subject and offering an often-humorous look at what women go through when it comes to breeding decisions. It’s a difficult subject, and Joyful made it an easy one to watch.” 

ABOUT THE CAST AND CREATIVES 

Born into an iconic political theater family, Joyful Raven (Writer/Performer) has been devising theater for over 20 years. She has directed and mentored hundreds of storytellers, co-founded the award-winning theater company Rococo Risqué, and co-authored four plays for the Prize of Hope-winning company Human Nature. She also wrote and starred in the solo comedy Tales of a Sexual Tomboy, which enjoyed an Off-Broadway run and won Best of the Fringe at the San Francisco International Fringe Festival. Tales of a Sexual Tomboy was deemed “one of the funniest shows now on display on Bay Area stages” by the San Francisco Chronicle. She also teaches regular storytelling and solo theater classes at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre and her own studio in Oakland, California.  

  

Multi-Obie-winning director, Jael Weisman (Director/Developer) is a founding member of the Dell’Arte Players Company and a trailblazer in actor-based theater. With Dell’Arte, Weisman’s works have toured extensively in the U.S., South America, and Europe, earning him numerous Dramalogue Awards for Directing. He has directed acclaimed productions including Whiteman Meets Bigfoot, Performance Anxiety, and Mad Love. Other noteworthy projects include The Dragon Lady’s Revenge with The San Francisco Mime Troupe, which traveled to New York and was awarded an Obie; the American premiere of Red Noses; Uncle Gunjiro’s Girlfriend at the Adelaide Festival; and Mermaid Meat for the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with luminaries like Carlo Mazzone-Clementi and Joe Chaikin and worked with renowned Bay Area performance artists including Jeff Raz and Brenda Wong Aoki.   

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