Aoise Stratford is a Playwright, Dramaturg, and Lecturer at Cornell University in the Department of Performing and Media Arts.

Lynn Deboeck is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre and Lecturer in Gender Studies at the University of Utah.

Acknowledgements

Contributors Bio

INTRODUCTION: Mothers on Stage, in the House, and Behind the Scenes

Lynn Deboeck and Aoise Stratford

PART ONE: RESCRIPTING REPRODUCTION AND THE PREGNANT BODY

Introduction / Mother's To Do List

(1) We Are BRAVE: Performed Motherhood as Sexual and Reproductive Justice Activism

Roberta Hunte

(2) Queer Mothering: You Don't Have To Emerge From Nothing

Michelle Hayford

(3) Embodied Dramaturgy of Pregnancy and Motherhood in Grounded and Gloria

Sarah Johnson

(4) "You just know": Fertility-as-Currency in Expecting Isabel

Lynn Deboeck

(5) Representations of (Non) Choice: Birthmother Narratives from Marginalized Mothers in Contemporary Theatre

Tamar Neumann

PART TWO: MATERNAL/THEATRICAL LEGACIES

Introduction / Mother's To Do List

(6) Persistent Anxiety and Absent Mothers in Lucas Hnath's A Doll's House, Part 2

Alison Walls

(7) "Unnatural" Mothers in Global Capitalism: Snow in Midsummer by Frances Ya-chu Cowig

Daphne P. Lei

(8) Abortion and the Monstrous Maternal in Suzan-Lori Parks's Red Letter Plays

Aoise Stratford

(9) Scripting and Staging Immigrant Motherhood in Heather Raffo's Noura

Suzi Elnaggar

(10) Mourning Mothers: Madness as Deviant Motherhood in Next to Normal

Lindsey Barr

PART THREE: MOTHERHOOD / NATIONHOOD

Introduction / Mother's To Do List

(11) Negotiating Mothers: Exploring the Maternal Landscape in Danai Gurira's Eclipsed

L. Bailey McDaniel

(12) "Mothers are the trickiest thing" Staging Undocumented Motherhood in Miss You Like Hell

Diana Benea

(13) Laboring for Their Country: Mother-Soldiers in Grounded and Welcome Home Jenny Sutter

Jacqueline Viskup

(14) Motherhood/Motherland: Performing Maternity and the Creation of a Citizen

Melissa Flower

(15) The Ties that Bind: Motherhood, Veiling, and Diasporic Subjectivity in Rohina Malik's Unveiled

Megan Stahl

PART FOUR: MOTHERHOOD AS THEATRICAL LABOR

Introduction / Mother's To Do List

(16) Radical Inclusivity: Rachel Hewitt and The Parent Artist Advocacy League

Daniella Vinitski Mooney

(17) Performing Performance Moms

Teresa Simone

(18) ASTR Field Conversation: Black Motherhood

Mysia Anderson, Maisha Akbar, Shondrika Moss-Bouldin, Nicole Hodges Persley

(19) No Further: Staging Motherwork and Maternal Relationships

Kristyl Tift

(20) A manifesto for care in the rehearsal room and the birthing room

Shawna Mefferd Kelty

(21) Jewish Mothers

Christina Hurtado-Pearson and Jessie Mills

CONCLUSION

Aoise Stratford and Lynn Deboeck

APPENDIX - Play List for Further Reading

Index