When Emily Grimany read the play “The Baby Maker,” she found herself nodding along in agreement at so many of the lines.
“I was like, yes, yes, thank you for saying that, like it was so validating reading it,” said Grimany, who is a mother and has gone through pregnancy.
Seeing those words come to life as the producer and director of a production of the new play opening in Louisville Friday has been an “amazing” experience, she added.
“The Baby Maker,” by playwright Brooke Bethel, follows Molly, whose boyfriend, Andrew, is over the moon when he learns she’s pregnant. Molly is diagnosed with hyperemesis, which comes with severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Despite how sick Molly gets, her boyfriend and his parents stress more about the baby’s health, and she fears she’s losing autonomy and seen solely as a parent-to-be as others begin mapping out her future.
“So often, it seems we think of women, once they become pregnant, like the baby is the most important thing, and the woman's health comes second,” Grimany said. “So I really wanted people to see how the woman is just as important as the baby. And I'm hoping that from this play... audiences will have more of an understanding for any friends or family members who are pregnant.”
She also hopes people who are or have been pregnant will see themselves in the work.
And while the play spoke to Grimany personally, she thinks it’s also relevant to this moment, as reproductive rights are challenged at the state and federal level.
“With everything going on with attacks on reproductive rights, I just feel like any play that looks at the way we treat women when they become pregnant is something that needs to be seen,” Grimany said. “And this play, it doesn't look at the way we treat women in the court or in laws, but it does look at the way we treat them just in our everyday relationships.”
“The Baby Maker,” opens Friday at The Bard’s Town in Louisville, and runs through March 27.