As women's rights are stripped away in the over turning of Roe v Wade, the choices three women make become life-altering. As Emily Dickenson wrote: "We grow accustomed to the dark, when Light is put away."
Blood River is an 85 minute play for three women, set in a post Roe v Wade overturned world where women's health rights have been reduced significantly. Abortion is illegal and the line between religion and law has blurred to non-existence. Karen rows a boat across the river to a different "state" where women are not prosecuted for putting their lives ahead of their unborn children. Cybelle has spent her whole life buying into the beliefs and rules set for her by her religious/conservative parents until her circumstances force her to question everything. Diane is Cybelle's mother and former high school friend of Karen desperate to save her child from the circumstances she herself has cultivated.
Keywords: abortion, women's rights, civil rights, choice
Produced by Theatre Kingston, Kingston ON, 2023
Genre: Drama
Acts: 2
Run time: 85 minutes
Suitable for students 16+
Content notes: Contains references to abortion, pregnancy, domestic abuse, sexual assault, and death. No violence is physically portrayed.
Cast size: 3 actors
Female roles: 3
Casting notes: 2 women aged 35, one woman who can play late teens
"Blood River is a riveting play written by Kingston-based playwright Chloë Whitehorn...Whitehorn was able to craft the play in a way so the story comes first but is always centred around the central theme of choice and what that means. She also did it in a way which takes both perspectives in a fair and well-conceived manner... I am delighted I was able to experience this well-thought-out play...It touches on and challenges so-called “taboo” topics in a fantastic way and helped me look at these issues in a new light which I loved...Blood River is a beautifully executed play."
- Stefan D'Ippolito, KINGSTON THEATRE ALLIANCE"Chloe Whitehorn’s masterpiece Blood River... the script is intelligent from start to finish, with comedic relief sprinkled in at all the right moments."
- Cassidy McMackon, QUEEN'S JOURNAL"...provocative and passionate... Whitehorn’s original new work is deep, rich, smart and involved...the language and words are striking and impactful, and the lines undeniably land best when the dialogue is clear and crisp and delivered with punch."
-Will Britton, KINGSTON WHIG STANDARD