With one-woman shows taking centre stage this year—and rightfully so—it is difficult to stand out. However, Joyful Raven’s masterful approach to storytelling and exquisite performance skills elevate Breed or Bust to another level. This play, which considers the relationship between motherhood and womanhood, is seductive, shocking, and heart-warming to the extreme – and Raven makes it look effortless.
Raven is a natural performer. Her warmth and capacity for humour won the audience over in seconds. She prefaces the show with a warning, or a “downer” as she phrases it: “My friend’s boyfriend got a vasectomy after seeing this play. So, men, if you’re scared of getting a vasectomy, now is your opportunity to leave.” A bundle of laughs follow, and we are firmly cradled in her arms. There is no safer place to be.
Raven plays herself as she relates her coming-of-age narrative, which is punctuated by 3 pregnancies – none of which she keeps, but not for lack of interest in motherhood. Breed or Bust is a whirlwind of feminism and desire, comprised of a host of memorable characters performed exceptionally by Raven. With a single line or facial expression, a character becomes entrenched in your mind (the hilarious voicemail recording that came to signify her multiple time ex James was an audience favourite).
Slick sound and lighting design effectively complement different character shifts. From the ethereal pink lighting and subtle choir track that accompanies the unborn baby Raven voices in self-reflective moments, to the ominous green and red shading her face as she imitates the melodramatic ‘Mama’ from Spring Awakening, these moments enhance the play’s depth and comedy simultaneously.
Set against Raven’s background growing up in a commune in Northern California, her story couldn’t be more eccentric. Even when British and American humour inevitably doesn’t quite match up in places, her extraordinary collective of characters are universally funny in their capacity to be laughed at.
Moreover, Breed or Bust’s poignant moments are so devastating they unite the audience in shock. By documenting multiple pregnancies throughout her life, Raven demonstrates how different her experiences were based on the environments and people around her. Following the harrowing re-enactment of her second abortion, in which she is given virtually no painkillers for an incredibly invasive procedure, Raven remarks into the silence one of the most powerful lines of the play: ‘Not all abortions are created equal’.
Whilst Raven purely recounts her personal experience, she radiates an awareness of its necessary politics, especially having crafted the play in tandem with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. But it is the unique intimacy of this particular story and the elegant way in which Raven tells it, imbued with warmth and infectious personality, that makes it so compelling and induces both strong emotional and political reactions. If you, like me, find theatre to be its best when it makes you both laugh and cry, don’t hesitate to get a ticket for Breed or Bust.
