Review: THE BIRTH OF THE PILL at TimeLine Theatre Company

TimeLine Theatre Company’s The Birth of the Pill takes some big swings...and sometimes misses. Adapted for the stage by Jessica Huang from Jonathan Eig’s book, it’s certainly relevant now. And Huang’s script takes “A People’s History of the United States” approach to storytelling. The play takes a character who refers to herself as a “footnote” in Eig’s original text and places her literally center stage. Ramona Delgado represents an amalgamation of the Puerto Rican women who were the trial subjects for the Pill — often without informed consent, and notably, taking pills with much higher doses of progesterone than the current medication — and sometimes debilitating side effects. 

The concept of The Birth of the Pill feels deeply in keeping with TimeLine’s mission: It puts a new spin on history, and it reminds us that innovation can come at a price. The inventors of the Pill were willing to forge ahead with their experimentation, even at the cost of women who weren’t able to consent to their part in the process. Not much is known about the Puerto Rican trial subjects, so Ramona becomes a proxy rather than a real person. I understand that’s a consequence of the historical materials available, but it seems like a misstep in terms of the point it’s trying to make. 

That said, María Victoria Martínez is plucky in the main role of Ramona. Martínez has an effervescence about her, and under Sandra Marquez’s direction, seems to flit about the stage. Huang’s script also gives Ramona the power to stop the action with the snap of her fingers, a symbol for the agency that real-life women like Ramona weren’t given. Ramona also concedes that most of Eig’s book is “pretty good” and offers up a channel for us to meet the other players in this story. 

Janet Ulrich Brooks takes on the role of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger with aplomb, who longs to see a contraceptive pill (simple as aspirin) become available to women int the United States (and everywhere) before the end of her lifetime. Mary Beth Fisher matches her beat-for-beat as Katharine McCormick, an old friend of Sanger’s and a wealthy widow willing to give her funds to illegal research on the Pill. Sanger enlists Dr. Goody Pincus (Mitchell J. Fain) and his colleague Min Cheuh Chang (Rammel Chan) to conduct lab research for the Pill, first using rabbits and rats. When it comes time to consider trials on women, the team enlists an unconventional Catholic gynecologist Dr. John Rock (David Parkes). Also fair warning, Parkes first appears on stage fully nude. I didn’t think that added much to the text, other than to indicate he’s not your typical Catholic. 

Across the board, the cast give lively and engaging performances. But Huang’s script sometimes puts too fine a point on the concept of who’s missing from the story. The text is heavily expositional. Because Ramona was literally often not in the room, Martínez narrates many of the proceedings. Cleverly. Huang finds moments to insert Ramona into the action, and Martínez plays a host of other characters — including keen and enthusiastic lab secretary Jackie.

In demonstrating the questionable decisions of some of her characters, I think they also sometimes look like out-and-out villains, rather than flawed, messy people. An imagined scene between Sanger and interviewer Mike Wallace ends up having Sanger reveal that she imagines a Pill would be useful for eugenics. In the TimeLine program, I learned it’s well documented that Sanger appealed to eugenicists for funds when developing the Pill — but it’s unclear the extent to which that was pandering or belief.

Similarly, at the end of the play, Eig (again played by Fain) and Ramona appear together on-stage. It’s a fitting button, their conversation feels stilted and extremely pointed. Again, the concept of using this play to course-correct and offer additional context and color to Eig’s book is smart and indeed adds new dimension to The Birth of the Pill. But the approach becomes didactic. 

The Birth of the Pill plays at Timeline Theatre Company, 5035 North Broadway, through October 11, 2026. Tickets are $65-$100. 

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