[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre interview with Dina Morrone on her show “My Uterus: A Womb with a View” that will have one performance July 21 at Theatre West.
A few months ago I was thrilled to review Dina Morone’s “My Uterus: A Womb with a View” at Theatre West. It was a brilliant, funny, very moving show and I loved it. I am happy to tell you that it’s back at Theatre West this weekend. I highly recommend the show and don’t by shy about the subject matter. Half the world has a Uterus…
Because I was lucky enough to see the show already, I wondered how it all came about and what Dina’s thoughts might be about it this time around. So I asked her!
Here’s a link to the review:
Hi Dina, thank you so much for letting us in to your creative process. This is a very personal play about a very personal subject. What inspired you to create this show?
Yes. This is a very personal play. Yet, all the things I share I know resonate with so many people in the room, both male and female. What inspired me came about in a roundabout way. I was part of a theatre group that met on Monday nights, where I used to work on my acting. But then I started writing monologues about observations and opinions (some more of a rant) pertaining to women, women’s health, and choices we make in life, and I brought them in to read. The very first story that got the ball rolling was a conversation I had with a friend about Religious Conversion and how, in some religions, you must “convert the Uterus” before conception for the children to be of a particular religion. I was stunned by this and thought to myself, I must write about this. I went home, and my first story about the Uterus poured out of me and onto the page. And that is pretty much it. That’s what got the ball rolling. Then, of course, I started to reflect more on things that, as a woman, I felt strongly about, and I continued to write pieces with the same general theme. The next thing I knew, I had all these stories and monologues. And I just knew I was headed for a solo show. I just hadn’t figured out how I was going to do it.
Did you have any reservations or consider anything to be out of bounds for this play?
Great question. Yes. I had reservations, and I was nervous about how far I should go in terms of the various aspects of the piece. How much is too much? This is where my director, Peter Flood, was so helpful. He encouraged me to go for it and say exactly what I wanted to say and not hold back. However, one of the other challenges I had was that I didn’t want to write a show that was only for women. I didn’t want it to be so intimate and, on the inside, about and for women that men would be turned off and not want to sit through it. I am very pleased with the result because I managed to make it for everyone.
Was there anything that surprised you about the show or changed your point of view?
What surprised me about the show is that I never knew a show about this subject could be so funny and yet moving. When I was writing it, I didn’t think about any of that. I was just writing what I felt and what came to me through observations, opinions, and things I had heard or read about in the news. This was wonderful to see and experience. It wasn’t easy assembling this piece. The pieces were written with ease. It was assembling them and putting them in the right place throughout the piece so that it made sense. I recall one time in the workshop when I read a version of this play, and it was only half done. Someone said they were curious how I would tie the whole thing up because it was going in all different directions. I laughed and thought, “I don’t know.” But it eventually came to me, and I am very pleased with the outcome.
What have been some of the best moments you have received form your audience.
I don’t know if it is the best, but certainly the most surprising from the first time I did a reading of this piece at a Theatre West Reading Series. I love that men have been responding so positively to this piece. This is not a piece for women. It’s about women, but men are just as much a part of the equation. I love a male audience. They get it, too! Some of the best compliments have come from men. My favorite so far was, “It’s great to hear a woman talk like that and to have the courage to say what you say. Wow, you really have balls.” I laughed and said, “No, I have a Uterus, and that is way more powerful than balls!”
You have written several plays as well as solo shows, which do you prefer and why?
I am a storyteller. I like being able to tell my story all by myself. I feel there is never enough time to tell all the stories that I am burning to write, present, perform, or read out loud. I love writing plays and watching actors play the roles I have created. But I must confess, I do get really nervous watching my plays being performed because I always hear the delivery in my head of how my words should sound. I am sure all writers feel this to some degree.
Do you have any advice for anyone thinking of writing and producing a play?
My advice for anyone thinking of writing and producing a play is to find something you really want to say and feel compelled to say because you will be living with those words and characters for a long time through rewrite after rewrite, edits, workshops, and readings, and finally rehearsals and a run. You want to be in love with what you are saying and sharing!
Tell us about your relationship with Theatre West and how is shapes your work.
My relationship with Theatre West has been a 22-year-long one. I entered the company and started bringing my writing to the writers’ workshop on Tuesday nights. It was a wonderful time to be there when I first joined, and it was quite intimidating. There were some really Hollywood legends in the room, including Betty Garrett, who started Theatre West, but I knew I had to write and get my work out there, and so I did. I often think about the many legends who worked on that stage and developed their work there. Too many to mention. The workshop process of My Uterus: A Womb With A View was painful but extremely necessary. Once I started bringing all the pieces, as a whole, to the Theatre West writer’s workshop, I realized I had a very long way to go. I worked on it a lot for a long time, and I kept bringing it back to the workshop even after painful readings of it. I was never satisfied with how the piece was structured or how I was saying things. At times, I felt like I was saying way too much. It felt like a lecture, and that’s not something I would ever want to present on stage or see as a solo show. I struggled to trim it down and to make it exciting and funny. I kept asking myself, “What are you trying to say?” “What is this piece really about?” “Who are you speaking to?” I couldn’t answer any of those questions. Also, I was unsure if I was ready to address the big white elephant in the room… abortion. I thought I couldn’t do justice to a piece about the Uterus without addressing Abortion. But I struggled with that because I thought no one wanted to hear about Abortion. It’s legal! We’re all good! Right? And so, I put the piece down, moved on to other projects, and decided I was pretty much done with it. And then, one day, not too long ago (2023), Abortion was overturned in some States, and I was in shock! I pulled out what I had written – it was a lot – and I started editing like crazy. I was taking pieces from here and pieces from there and assembling them and shaping them, and suddenly, it all came together in a very short time. And suddenly, I birthed “My Uterus: A Womb With A View.”
Dina, please add anything else you would like about yourself, the show or Theatre West.
The song I open my show with is a song called “Feel The Power,” written and performed by Shayne Stolz. When I first heard this song, I loved it so much and thought this is the song I want to hear before my show started. It really sets the tone of the piece. It’s all about feeling the power within. As a woman, I want to feel powerful about my choices and not like a victim. I want audiences to feel the power. I want them to walk away from my show, having been entertained, informed, and empowered! I want audiences to think about it and discuss it. I want to empower all women, young and old, to speak openly about women’s issues, women’s bodies, and women’s rights, especially those about our reproductive organs and what makes us unique and powerful as women. Women have so much power, and yet sometimes it feels like our power is being denied by those who have no business denying us, and yet other times, we women forget how much power we really have. We carry around a Uterus, which is the only thing that can carry a human life. Without it, none of us would be here! There is nothing more powerful than that.
Thank you Dina!
My Uterus: A Womb with a View will be playing for just one day on July 21st, 2pm at Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd West, Los Angeles.