REvamping REstell Debuts in Workshop Benefit at
Ten Fifteen Theater, Astoria

This weekend, Astoria gets the first look at REvamping REstell, a new play written and directed by Deanna Duplechain, in its public workshop premiere at Ten Fifteen Theater.

A theatrical kaleidoscope of Madame Restell, famed midwife and notorious abortionist of the 19th century, providing reproductive healthcare to women on a sliding scale. Certainly, she must be destroyed. Oh, how the times haven't changed.

The play follows Restell through post-Civil War New York, where free thinkers packed lecture halls, spiritualists channeled the dead, and a female physician built a career the era wasn't ready to forgive her for. Anthony Comstock and Dr. Horatio Storer built their reputations trying to take her down. Expect comedy, tragedy, live music, a séance, and a cameo from the ghost of Abraham Lincoln, because Restell's story never fit neatly into one genre to begin with.

"I put myself firmly in the shoes of a young woman needing to end an unwanted pregnancy," Duplechain says of writing the play. "It motivated me to keep writing, but it also made me feel incredibly anxious and powerless."

As a workshop production, the show is still finding its final shape. Every performance is followed by a talkback with Duplechain and the cast, and what the audience has to say will help shape the next draft of the script.

Workshop Cast

• Deborah Jensen as Madame Restell/Ann

• Marc Weaver as Dr. Storer and others

• Cameron Lira as Anthony Comstock and others

• Sam Dinkowitz as Charles Lohman and others

• Cyndi Fisher as Wayward Sister Victoria and others

• Nancy Watkins as Wayward Sister Margaret and others

• Danyelle Tinker as Wayward Sister Ida and others

• Nancy Montgomery as Carrie and others

• Tod Adamson, musician and others

• John Hunt, musician and others

Creative Team

• Written and Directed by Deanna Duplechain

• Sound Design/Stage Manager: Jaime Britton

• Costume Design: Suzanne Childers

• Costume Director: Sondra Gomez

• Lighting Design: Ronnie Rantis

• Scenic Artist: Heather Goguen

• Original Music Composition: Tod Adamson

• Technician: Conner Price

• Dialect Coach: Monica Blaze Leavitt

• Marketing Design: Nancy Montgomery, Dinah Urell

• Promotional Consultant: Heather Burdette

Proceeds from both performances (pay what you can) benefit Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette and the Northwest Abortion Access Fund. "As the options dwindle for our fellow citizens in other states," Duplechain says, "we need to keep the lights on."

• Saturday, August 22 at 7:30 PM

• Sunday, August 23 at 3:30 PM

• Ten Fifteen Theater, 1015 Commercial St., Astoria, OR

• Pay-what-you-can benefitting local abortion clinics. Advance reservations recommended.

• Reserve your seat at thetenfifteentheater.com

Cyndi Fisher as Abigail, Nancy Montgomery as Carrie, Deborah Jensen as Madame Restell, Photo by Dinah Urell

All workshop proceeds to benefit: