Inside the PlayGround Festival: Interview with Playwright Rachel Bublitz

As we near the PlayGround Festival premiere presentation of Rachel Bublitz‘s new play, FUNNY, LIKE AN ABORTION, this weekend, we sat down (virtually) with the PlayGround alumna and Will Glickman Award winner to talk about her play, what she’d like audiences to know and what’s next.

PlayGround: What would you like your audience to know about this play before they see it (in-person or online)?  Is it actually “funny”?

Rachel Bublitz: Walking in to see my new play Funny, Like An Abortion, you should know that is a very dark, probably offensive, comedy about two friends trying to work out an impossible situation. I find the play hilarious, and hope others do too. It’s dark because you have to match the comedy to the times. The play is set in a world where access to health reproductive rights are completely restricted and lives are at stake. It’s unfortunately not so different from our world.

PG: Did you imagine how timely this work would be? Are you prescient or just really good at reading the signs?

RB: I hope every day to wake up and see that my play isn’t so timely, but at this point I fear our actual America will eclipse the governmental control shown in the play. The Republican Party has doggedly fought to strike down Roe vs. Wade, even though the majority of Americans believe abortion access should be a right for all, and they have been completely transparent about that all along. I’m not prescient, I just read the writing on the wall.

PG: Do you have a hope for what audiences will take away from this play? How would you like to see the conversation continue?

RB: Walking away from the play, I want my audience to feel for all the people who are put in the impossible position they just saw Monroe in. And to invite folks in to join the fight. Lives are at stake, and it’s not over yet. And I’d also like to give space for folks to laugh and cry together and know they aren’t alone. It’s a hell of a thing to know you’re not the only one scared out of your mind.

PG: What do you have coming up next and how can we follow your work?

RB: Another of my full-lengths, Burst (developed at the 2020 PlayGround Festival of New Works), was just a finalist for the 2022 National New Plays Network Showcase! There are a lot of theaters interested in producing the play and possibly working together on a Rolling World Premiere. To stay in touch on Burst or Funny, Like An Abortion or my other work, sign up for my monthly newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/rachelbublitz.

Join us for the PlayGround Festival premiere presentation of FUNNY, LIKE AN ABORTION by Rachel Bublitz, live in-person at Potrero Stage and simulcast online, this Saturday, May 28, and Sunday, May 29, at 7pm PDT, and streaming on-demand through June 30. Admission is free (donations gratefully accepted) but advance reservations are required. For more information or to reserve tickets, visit https://playground-sf.org/funnylikeanabortion.