(S)LAUGHTER: A PLAY ON PAIN:

When a pregnant community activist is thrown in prison for “standing her ground” she goes into labor and is forced to give birth in solitary confinement, shackled to a bed. Alone and afraid, she cries out and her epigenetic memory answers the call, bringing help she never envisioned.

(S)LAUGHTER: A PLAY ON PAIN written by Malika Oyetimein is a poetic and painful look at the intersections of the racial injustices of the American healthcare system, the horrifying Black Maternal Mortality Rates, and the prison system . This work has been in development at Simpatico Theatre Company / Merrimack Repertory Company in conjunction with Oyetimein and Brennie Tellu’s company unBossed Productions.