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Austin, Texas
Susan Steffes, BOLD organizer in Austin, organized a BOLD performance on Labor Day. Proceeds went to CIMS (Coalition for Improving Maternity Services) and DONA’s Doula Care Crisis Fund. Susan reports: We had approximately 130 people attend. We got a standing ovation and rave reviews from the audience members. The talk back was, in my eyes, successful and lasted over an hour. Mostly focused around the high rates of intervention in our area and lack of support for hospital midwifery programs. It was such an honor to perform this and bring it to Austin this year. As a co-director I couldn’t have asked for a better performance. As an actress I was honored to portray Jillian and be amongst the other women as they brought their characters to life. It was all so moving, and deeply fulfilling…to quote Jillian. Karen, this play and this BOLD movement are truly a gift to the world. I am so blessed to have been a part of it. “Thank you” seems so meager compared to the fullness my soul feels. It’s really like birth…I am so fulfilled to have delivered the baby and yet my soul aches for the pregnancy to continue. Susan continues: I had one previous client and one current client attend. They both LOVED it. The previous client had a similar journey to Jillian and it made her feel so good to walk through that again. The current client, who is still deciding how she wants to birth, said that Lisa’s story gave her a lot to think about. She had, for a moment, considered going down Beth’s road (a planned c-section) but when she heard Lisa’s description of her body processing her cesarean as a death instead of a birth, she decided against it. Waaaa-hoooooo!!!!! That’s what I’m talking about!!!! Susan sent us a few letters from her Austin audience: Thanks for pulling together such a wonderful show. I laughed. I cried. I left uplifted and hopeful that we women are still active in seeking to have our voices heard and our birthing choices available. Great gift to the community. Peace, Jenny And more feedback: the writing was GREAT. I thought each of the characters were really well developed -- meaning you got to know their style -- the "tone" was consistent for each and the dialogue (monologue?) was very smooth and conversational, not stiff and choppy. The placement of the girls in an arc behind the main speaker with different voices coming from different directions was a cool effect too. Very creative. And I liked when all the girls in the background joined in for key phrases ("push, don't push") -- that was a good effect too. Having all the girls in black was good -- there was no "visual noise" -- so that there was no distraction from the substance/content of the birth story. And the message got across too....... the connected vs disconnected from the birth process theme..... nice and clear. Loved it :-) oh, my neighbor said that when the play first started and she saw all the girls with open books in their laps she though "oh no, they're going to read" .... and she was pleased that it didn't end up to be a simple "reading" of script. (wow, I had much more to say than I thought :-) Deb A BOLD thanks to… Susan writes, “my husband, Karl Steffes, who took over most of the kid duties and household responsibilities, leaving me to focus on BOLD. Many nights he went to bed while I worked on staging, lighting, and other tasks. He was also instrumental in helping with the program, music and videotaping.” I HAVE to thank my co-director, Wendy Chennault. As a result of her taking time to individually coach each actress in character development we witnessed an amazing transformation in our ability to portray our characters with authenticity and convey their messages clearly. The performance became what it was through her kind and thoughtful nurturing ways. She also helped with the ads for the program, music for pre-show, managing the house on performance night, and so much more! My heartfelt thanks and appreciation go to Wendy!
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