projects

Pro-Choice Library Project

One of our dreams is to create physical pro-choice libraries of radical political plays that have stretched, shaped, and re-imagined what political theater can be, and make them available to theaters around the country. Hosted in public theater spaces, these plays would be available for community artists to borrow and read, along with reproductive healthcare resources/info/zines that could be taken by anyone in need.

Our goal is to put compelling, distinctly political plays on the shelves of theaters large and small around the country, along with critical resources for abortion access.

Theater sections of bookshops and libraries are notoriously lacking; putting these plays in physical reach of theater makers is a form of activism, just as ensuring access to vetted abortion resources is. These libraries are about making access for theater makers: access to plays that have changed our culture and the information they need to take care of their own bodies. Both are vital in this moment.

So how would this work?

Theatres (or organizations like small independent book stores and educational theatre departments) would be able to request a library box through a form, which we would then send free of charge. All they'd need is a community space where the library could be assembled. We'd distribute as many as these as we could possibly afford to.

Who gets these boxes?

While this would be open to all kinds of organizations, because of our mission, we would want to prioritize theatres and theatre education spaces in states with abortion bans. We would also want to prioritize organizations that might not have room in their budget to buy copies of these plays on their own.

What plays would be included in a library?

As of July 30th, 2022, this is our list of recommended plays!

  • Behind the Sheet by Charly Evon Simpson

  • Dry Land by Ruby Rae Spiegel

  • Queer Heartache by Kit Yan

  • What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck

  • Fefu and Her Friends by Maria Irene Fornes

  • Draw the Circle by Mushtaq Mushtaq Dean

  • For Colored Girls by Ntozake Shange

  • Harvest by Manjula Padmanabhan

  • Silver of a Full Moon by Mary Katherine Nagle

  • the wish by Justice Hehir, Dena Igusti, Phanésia Pharel, Nia Akilah Robinson, and Julia Specht


As well as a QR code to open:


Lovely little takeaway items:

  • Like a bookmark, stickers, or tea bags


And abortion resources:

  • Stickers with QR code for our online list of reproductive healthcare resources

  • Sturdy, lovely, discreet resource cards available for anyone to take.

    • Our resource guide is going to be reviewed by a prominent sexual health professor at Rutgers University and a doctor who performs abortions, to make sure it’s clear, accurate, and contains the most useful, up-to-date information.

Does anyone want this?

Short answer: yeah. This is hardly a scientific study, but we set aside 3 hours to make a few cold calls to theatres around the country. In that time, 18 theatres expressed an interest in hosting a library like this. These theatres were in Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, New York, West Virginia, Arizona, Indiana - seriously, we got all this after only 3 hours. There is a demand for this.

This is so cool, please take my money!!

We love your enthusiasm, Person We Made Up! We're in the process of figuring out how best to accept donations - keep watching this space, or email thewishcollective@proton.me to ask us to keep you updated.

Yarrow Writing Workshop Series

Join us for our Yarrow Writing Workshop Series, three free Zoom workshops centering bodily autonomy, led by the five of us, open to writers across the country. We have two more monthly meetings in our fall series on October 28th and November 18th, both at 7 pm EST. Links to our Zoom rooms are below:

October 28th: https://bit.ly/yarrow-october-22

November 18th: https://bit.ly/yarrow-november-22