BREED OR BUST Comes to The Marsh Next Month

The timely, entertaining, and thought-provoking solo show Breed or Bust by award-winning actor, director, and “story midwife” Joyful Raven returns to the Bay Area this spring at The Marsh Berkeley. This compelling one-woman production takes audiences on a subversive and hilarious journey through female reproductive options, from the taboos of abortion to the nuances often left out of these important conversations. 

Breed or Bust blends unabashedly honest storytelling, stand-up comedy, and dark humor, as Raven reckons with her reproductive choices and contends with her primal baby-making instincts. With the moments of her “clock ticking,” she reflects on the complex relationship between womanhood and motherhood. Should she surrender to the role of weird aunt, or should she start a GoFundMe to freeze her geriatric eggs?

 Breed or Bust, performed by Joyful Raven and directed by Jael Weisman, will have performances 8pm Saturdays, May 4 - June 8, 2024, at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. For tickets ($20-$35 sliding scale, $50 and $100 reserved) or more information, the public may visit themarsh.org. 

Breed or Bust recently concluded a critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it garnered an Off West End Theatre Award (Offie) nomination. Critics in Scotland praised the show calling it a “masterful approach to storytelling. Seductive, shocking, and heart-warming to the extreme” (Theatre Weekly UK), “a fun and feminist look at one of life’s perennial dilemmas, freshly told,” (The List UK) and “a riveting personal story that is funny, shocking and insightful, offering a sensitive and innovative exploration of the pressures and taboos surrounding female reproductive choices” (The Independent UK). This riveting and riotous show made its world premiere at PlayGround San Francisco in its 2022 Solo Performance Festival and was given an encore limited run in fall 2022 at the Potrero Stage where the San Francisco Examiner lauded Raven, noting that she “tells it openly, without self-pity or sentimentality. And she tells it funny.” It has also been performed in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, where it received a Producer’s Encore Award, a Gold Medal from TV-olution, and was nominated for Best Comedy amongst more than 400 shows. BroadwayWorld hailed Breed or Bust as “heartbreaking and deeply heartfelt, taking a serious subject and offering an often humorous look at what women go through when it comes to breeding decisions. It’s a difficult subject, and Joyful made it an easy one to watch.” 

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