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Birth
Play
When
Victoria Baecker agreed to act in Birth, which was
performed at Russell Sage College last Sunday (Sept. 30),
she didn’t know a whole lot about maternity care and different
birth options. “I just kind of thought, you give birth with
an epidural in a hospital on your back,” she says.
Birth,
by Karen Brody, tells the true stories of eight different
births, from home births to planned c-sections. Baecker, a
former theater major who was invited to participate by co-director
Sarah Eiley Cowherd, a fellow Russell Sage alum, quickly came
to appreciate one of the main messages of the play, which,
she says, is “You do have these other options. You can use
a midwife, you can use a doula. [The directors] said if they
got that through to one person, the play would be a success.
Well, they got one on the first day of rehearsal.”
After a few rehearsals, Baecker went to see her OB because
she was thinking of getting pregnant. She says the OB was
“very short” with her and seemed to belittle her for taking
up her time with such questions. Baker changed doctors. If
it weren’t for the play, she says, she might have stayed,
like one of the characters who reasons “Birth is just one
day. I can be around someone I don’t like for just one day,”
and then ends up with complications from a probably unneccesary
c-section.
Birth
was performed around the country throughout September as part
of a movement the playwright calls BOLD (Birth on Labor Day)
to “make maternity care mother-friendly” and support women’s
right to make informed choices about birth options without
judgment.
Many of the actresses chose to participate because they wanted
other women to have access to information they had found on
their own. “When I had my son, I had to do all this research
on my own,” says actress Courtney Troeger. “The practice I
was with had midwives, but they didn’t tell me. I had to coax
it out of them.”
Birth
raised funds for the local nonprofit Birthnet. It was accompanied
by “Red Tent” events where women gathered to tell their birth
stories; the videotaped stories will be sent to the head of
OB education at Albany Medical Center. Talkback panels with
local midwives also followed the performances. Katie Cartwright,
a doula and actress in the play, said she was impressed by
the depth of the questions. “People are really starved for
real information about what is out there, about real evidence
of what is better for mothers and babies,” she said.
The backdrop for the Troy performance was a section of a quilt
with squares dedicated to mothers who have died of pregnancy-
or childbirth-related causes. Organizers were inspired to
bring the quilt after reading about a local woman who died
during a c-section. “A lot of the risk has been taken out
of birth,” explains co-director Alyssa Colton. “Now, the reasons
why it isn’t safe [are] often unecessary interventions.”
—Miriam
Axel-Lute
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On
view at Landscapes for Landsake: Harry Orlyk’s
Winter Convoy.
To
be featured on Art 21: Manglano-Ovalle’s Cloud
Prototype No. 1.
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Art
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THE LANDSCAPE The 6th Annual Landscapes for Landsake
art exhibit opens Saturday (Oct. 6) with a free wine and cheese
reception from 3 to 6 PM at the historic barn at Maple Ridge
(172 State Route 372, Coila). Works by 21 jury-chosen artists
will be featured, including Dona Ann McAdams, Leah
McCloskey, Harry Orlyk and, um, 18 more. Half of
the proceeds from the art sales will benefit the Agricultural
Stewardship Association, and thus this organization’s
land conservation work. The exhibit will also be available
for viewing Oct. 7-8 and 13-14 from noon to 4 PM, or by appointment.
For more info, call 692-7285 or visit www.agstewardship.org.
TV ON THE ART MUSEUM SCREEN The Clark Art Institute
will be previewing the “Ecology” episode of the acclaimed
PBS contemporary art series Art 21 on Wednesday
(Oct. 10) at 7 PM. This documentary features four artists:
Ursula von Rydingsvard, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle
(a Williams College alum who will be speaking at her alma
mater on Oct. 10), Robert Adams and Mark Dion.
After the screening, there will be a discussion facilitated
by MASS MoCA curator Denise Markonish, Clark assistant
curator Danielle Steinmann and Williams College assistant
professor Ondine Chavoya. For more info, call the Clark
at (413) 458-9545.
A SPECIAL 1ST FRIDAY EVENT It’s that time of the month again:
Tomorrow (Friday, Oct. 5) is another 1st Friday extravaganza
in downtown Albany. In addition to all the usual wonderful
events at Albany museums and galleries, the Ten Broeck
Mansion in Arbor Hill (Ten Broeck Place, Albany) will
host the 4th annual Summer in the City Youth Talent Exhibit.
This will showcase “performing arts, multimedia, poetry, cultural
and political knowledge projects” created this summer by Albany
youths. The fun starts at 5 PM; admission is free; and 1st
Friday “trolley” (c’mon, without wires or tracks or a trolley
wheel, it’s a damn bus) service to the mansion will run
every half-hour until 9:30 PM. For more info, visit www.albanybarn.org.
DEADLINE EXTENDED Historic Albany Foundation has extended
its call for original artwork for its upcoming (Nov. 3) one-night-only
show (at Albany’s Cathedral of All Saints on South Swan Street)
to Oct. 15. This is the fund-raising event formerly known
as Vacancy, which now emerges, retooled, as Built—Albany’s
Architecture Through Artists’ Eyes. Previous shows
centered on works inspired by vacant buildings—and heaven
only knows we have enough of those—while this show welcomes
works inspired by any element of Albany’s built environment.
(“Built environment,” for you lay people, is planning/preservation
talk.) What’s in it for you, the artist? If accepted, you
will receive 60 percent of the price of any displayed work
sold; you get a free ticket (worth $50) to the event, and
can buy additional tickets at a discount; and your work will
be judged by the very worthy Sharon Bates and Robert
McBride. (First prize is $500.) Interested? For more info
and to obtain an entry form, call 465-0876 ext. 10 or e-mail
built@historic-albany.org.
AN IBERIAN EVENING Early music ensemble Musicians of Ma’alwyck
are gearing up for their fall concert season. No, the complete
schedule isn’t available yet—keep checking our Night &
Day calendar section for updates—but one popular event has
been announced, and timeliness requires you know about it
now. Why? Because the last Musicians of Ma’alwyck dinner-and-concert
event at Schenectady County Community College (Schenectady)
sold out quickly. This year’s Spanish-themed event on Nov.
13 will feature a tapas menu (prepared by the SCCC culinary
department), Spanish wines and a program of music for guitar,
violin and cello. Dinner is at 6 PM in the Van Curler Room;
the concert is at 8 PM in the Lally Mohawk Room. The event
is $50 per person, and you can reserve your tickets by calling
SCCC bookstore (during regular business hours) at 377-1606.
For more info the Musicians of Ma’alwyck season, call 377-3623
or send an e-mail to annmarie@musiciansofmaalwyck.org.
—Shawn
Stone
sstone@metroland.net
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