THE BIRTH OF THE PILL World Premiere to Open TimeLine Theatre's 30th Season

A bold story about the controversial creation that reshaped women's lives is the focus of The Birth of the Pill, a world premiere play launching TimeLine Theatre's 30th Anniversary season in September.

The Birth of the Pill—by playwright Jessica Huang, based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago author Jonathan Eig (King: A Life), directed by Sandra Marquez—is an eye-opening story about science, power, and the women who paid the price for progress. Commissioned and developed by TimeLine Theatre, this highly anticipated world premiere is the opening production of the company's inaugural, four-show season at its new home in Chicago's Uptown community.

Previews of The Birth of the Pill start September 2. Press opening is Thursday, September 10 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run through October 4 at TimeLine Theatre, 5035 N. Broadway (at Argyle) in Uptown. Single tickets go on sale July 21. For tickets and information, call the TimeLine Box Office at (773) 281-8463 x1 or visit timelinetheatre.com.

TimeLine looks forward to bringing this chapter of global history to its stage and is ready to probe the play's urgent questions about consent, sacrifice, and the complicated cost of social change. The Birth of the Pill begins in the mid‑20th century as a radical dream begins to take shape: a simple pill that would give women full control over their reproductive futures. Championing this groundbreaking idea are feminist activist Margaret Sanger, scientist Gregory Pincus, gynecologist John Rock, and philanthropist Katharine McCormick—visionaries working under intense secrecy amid legal, scientific, and religious roadblocks. Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico, clinical trials place the burden of experimentation on women like Ramona Delgado, whose lives and bodies become entangled in the quest for scientific advancement.

Audiences will be hard-pressed to recall another play that interacts with its source material quite like The Birth of the Pill. Huang calls it “a play in conversation with the book by Jonathan Eig,” and it offers a fresh, critical look at how the book holds up 14 years after publication, after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, and amidst the current cultural and political climate of the United States.

Published in 2014 by W. W. Norton, Eig's book The Birth of the Pill was hailed as “one giant leap for womenkind” by The Guardian and named a “Best Book of 2014” by the Chicago Tribune. Eig's subsequent biography of Martin Luther King Jr., King: A Life, won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for biography. His biography of Muhammad Ali, Ali: A Life, won the PEN/ESPN Award and inspired a documentary by Ken Burns, for which Eig served as consulting producer. Other literary works include Get Capone, Opening Day, and The Luckiest Man. Eig (jonathaneig.com) confirms this is his first involvement in theatre since he played trumpet in the pit orchestra for Brigadoon at Spring Valley High School. He and his wife, Jennifer Tescher, are longtime TimeLine Theatre subscribers.

“Befitting TimeLine's mission, The Birth of the Pill is a story that transcends time—exploring the quest to invent the birth control pill, the struggles, controversies, and harm caused by its creation and clinical trials, and all the history that continues to unfold since. We can't wait to bring this play to Uptown to launch the inaugural season in our new home,” said TimeLine Theatre Artistic Director PJ Powers.

“We've been great admirers and friends of Jonathan Eig for many years, and I began talking with him more than a decade ago about adapting one of his many tremendous books into a play,” Powers added. “The Birth of the Pill quickly became that passion project for TimeLine, among his lauded body of work, and we were thrilled to commission Jessica Huang, a playwright whose skill, craft, and unique voice had already captured our great interest. The pairing of Jessica and Jon—and the invaluable leadership of director Sandra Marquez—has been one of the most inspiring collaborations I've witnessed in TimeLine's 30 years. Jon has been a generous contributor, sharing his depth of research, while also being an enthusiastic cheerleader for Jessica to create a piece of theatre in her own voice, and for this moment, distinct from when and how the book was first written.”

“The play is an adaptation, but also an addition to Jon's book,” agreed Huang. “For me, the story of the Puerto Rican women who were coerced to participate in clinical trials is not only a crucial piece of our history, it is actually the center of this story. So while the play is a faithful adaptation, it is also a retelling that challenges his book, adds to his book, and collaborates with it. Sort of like my friendship with Jon, which became a part of the play as well.”

The commission and development of The Birth of the Pill was supported in part by the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Playwright Jessica Huang is a New York-based playwright and librettist whose award-winning work includes Mother of Exiles (Berkeley Rep World Premiere, Venturous Award, Rosa Parks Playwriting Award, Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award), The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin (Bernice Stavis Award) and Blended 和 (Harmony): The Kim Loo Sisters (with music by Jacinth Greywoode). She is also writing the book for 10 Things I Hate About You: The Musical with Lena Dunham, score by Carly Rae Jepsen and Ethan Gruska, debuting on Broadway in 2027. Huang has commissions with Indiana Repertory Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club. She is the Indiana Repertory Theatre James Still Playwright in Residence, a Venturous Playwright Fellow, a MacDowell Fellow, Hermitage Fellow, and four-time Playwrights' Center fellow. She has been a member of Ars Nova Play Group, Civilians R&D Group and Page 73's Interstate 73. She is a graduate of the Playwrights Program at Juilliard. Her popular audioplay Song of the Northwoods is available on Audible. Visit jessica-huang.com.

Director Sandra Marquez is an Associate Professor of Acting and Directing at Northwestern University and an actor and director in Chicago. She is an ensemble member of Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Teatro Vista Productions. Stage credits include POTUS (actor), A Doll's House, Part 2 (actor), I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (director), and La Ruta (director) at Steppenwolf; The Iphigenia Cycle (actor) at Court Theatre; and The Dream King (director), Wolf at the End of the Block (actor), and A View from the Bridge (actor) at Teatro Vista. Film and television credits include Light Years, Chicago Justice, and Chicago Med. She is a founding faculty member of Northwestern's Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Acting Program and serves as its Director of Graduate Studies.

The cast for The Birth of the Pill features TimeLine Company Member Janet Ulrich Brooks (she/her) as Margaret Sanger, Rammel Chan (he/him) as Min Chueh Chang, Mitchell J. Fain (he/him) as Goody Pincus/Jonathan Eig, Mary Beth Fisher (she/her) as Katharine McCormick, María Victoria Martínez (she/ella/they/elle) as Ramona Delgado and others, and TimeLine Company Member David Parkes (he/him) as John Rock.

Understudies (at press time) are Zach Bloomfield (Goody Pincus/Jonathan Eig U/S, he/him), Patrice Egleston (Katharine McCormick U/S, she/her), William Ryder (John Rock U/S, he/him), Denise Smolarek (Margaret Sanger U/S, she/her), and Mark Tacderas (Min Chueh Chang U/S, he/him).

The design and production team (at press time) includes Regina García (Scenic Designer, she/her/ella), Christine Pascual (Costume Designer, she/her), Conchita Avitia (Lighting Designer, she/her/ella), Saskia Bakker (Properties Designer, she/he/they), Matthew Chapman (Sound Designer, he/him), Mike Tutaj (Projections Designer, he/him), Maren Robinson (Co-Dramaturg, she/her), Liza Ann Acosta (Co-Dramaturg, they/them), Toranika Washington (Intimacy Director, she/her), Raquel Torre (Movement Consultant, she/her/ella), Dina Spoerl (Dramaturgical Display Designer, she/her), Gianni Carcagno (Stage Manager, they/she), and Olivia Sullam (Assistant Stage Manager, she/they).

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Previews of The Birth of the Pill are Wednesday, September 2; Thursday, September 3; and Friday, September 4 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, September 5 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Sunday, September 6 at 2 p.m.; and Tuesday, September 8; and Wednesday, September 9 at 7:30 p.m. Opening Night is Thursday, September 10 at 7:30 p.m. Regular performances continue through October 4: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday at 2 p.m. Exception: No 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 12.

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