The Bearer of Bad News
by Alex Kingsley
“Imagine if you will …” if the Twilight Zone meets The Handmaid’s Tale meets Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and you have The Bearer of Bad News.
Unladylike Theatre is partnering with non-binary playwright Alex Kingsley to bring their “corporeal tragedy” The Bearer of Bad News to the stage as their debut production.
In the not-too-distant future a corporeal tragedy is taking place. Animals have died out and young women are tasked with bringing them to "bear" in order to protect and save paramount endangered species. A young bearer named Samantha struggles to discover her place in the world and adjust to her new status as a "Bearer" (spoiler alert: it is not one of privilege). The other Bearers, her parents, her doctors - basically nobody in Samantha's world comprehends what she is doing or why leaving her in her own private world.
“Bearer of Bad News is a sobering and timely allegory of medical abuse of pregnant women, made all the more immediate and necessary in a time when women, especially Black women, are subjected to maltreatment in maternity wards across the country, trauma that has led to a maternal mortality rate that horrifically is 2 to 6 times higher than that of white women.” (swarthmorephoenix.com)
About the Playwright
Alex Kinglsey
Alex Kingsley (they/them) is a writer, comedian, and game designer based in Madrid. They are a cofounder of Strong Branch Productions, where they write and direct the Audioverse-Finalist sci-fi comedy podcast The Stench of Adventure. They've been a voice actor for various other podcasts, including Whisperling and Spirit Box Radio. Their writing has been published in The Wallis Studio Ensemble’s Ensemble Arts Exchange, Sci-Fi Lampoon, ASPEC Journal, and soon The Storage Papers by Rusty Quill and Strangely Funny IX by Mystery and Horror LLC. Their short story "The Strange Garden" was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. You can find their tabletop games at alexyquest.itch.io and you can follow them on Twitter and TikTok @alexyquest. If you like their work, don’t hesitate to say hi. You can find more information about their writing, stand up, and more at alexkingsley.org, or at strongbranchproductions.com.
