Review: ALISON LEIBY: OH GOD, A SHOW ABOUT ABORTION at Kennedy Center

Walking into the Kennedy Center’s Theater Lab last night, I did not know I’d walk out thinking about my identity as a woman in ways I hadn’t before due to a 70-minute comedy show about abortion. But not even a 5-mile hike from where Roe v. Wade was overturned, Alison Leiby brings her new show Oh God, A Show About Abortion and no matter who you are, it might change your perspective too.

Leiby, a New York based comedian who you may know for her role as co-producer on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, engages the audience to journey through her time in 2019 where she had an abortion. From finding out in her hotel room on tour that a pregnancy test is usually dipped into a cup of urine unlike in the movies, all the way to her calm Saturday night post-operation, she allows you in on a moment in a woman’s journey that most never speak of. 

(I think it's important to note that she addressed the distinction of this show being about her experience as a cisgender woman, acknowledging that this may not be every woman's experience and that others, such as trans men, can have these same struggles.)

Of course, the show is hysterical. Leiby’s comedic writing nails the punchline every time - weaving in and out of the process of getting an abortion, her relationship with her mother, and why she would never be a mother. We follow her stream of consciousness, bouncing between jocular anecdotes and honest commentary. She ruminates on her luxury plants bought from Brooklyn-based GRDN, and how even for her $300 cactus, Leiby couldn't manage to keep it alive. She recalls a time when the Planned Parenthood nurse asked if she would like to hear the heartbeat during the sonogram leading up to her abortion. Leiby responded, “Just fax it straight to Mitch McConnell." With every push and pull, you can feel the audience flowing with her, riding the wave of comedy all the way to the end of the show. 

Leiby is also candid in her identity as someone who is not a mother because, as she points out, we categorize women into two groups: mothers and not mothers. For her, she never wants to be a mother, and that’s okay. I found myself living in those quiet beats, letting the jokes keep your wall down to allow those poignant moments of reality to sink in. I’m merely twenty-three, and the most I had thought about kids is that I don’t want them right now. I hadn’t thought of how intrinsically tied women are to motherhood, how it’s expected of us. The show sparked conversations between my dutiful plus one and I, knowing he had never thought about women’s identities in this way either. Leiby lays it all out in an informative, nonchalant, sidesplitting view. I walked away wanting to sit down with her and go more in depth, while hearing so many other stories about her hilarious pursuits.

Feeling almost like a FaceTime with a friend, Oh God, A Show About Abortion makes it easy to forget you’re watching a show. Alison Leiby invites you in to hear about her story, makes you laugh, and leaves you thinking about the expectations pushed onto women for long after you leave. I'd suggest every person, no matter if you'd dealt with these struggles, to make the night out. You will cackle, you will hum in agreement, and you will leave either learning more about yourself or about the women that surround your life.

Oh God, A Show About Abortion is at the Kennedy Center's Theater Lab from June 21 - 24. The show runs around 70 minutes. Please note: Recommended for mature audiences.

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