axes, herbs and satchels
Rooted in the history and embodied wisdom of doulas and midwives, axes, herbs and satchels is a celebration of traditional knowledge held in the Black birth worker community and a potent examination of maternal mortality.
The United States has a maternal mortality rate that is three times higher than any other high-income country. Black and Indigenous birthing people are particularly at risk, with death rates up to three times more likely than their white counterparts. Modern medicine may be at our fingertips, but did it come at the cost of losing the ancient practices of doulas and midwives?
The play is being devised from an array of research materials; first hand accounts, medical textbooks, ethnological research, and primary sources documenting grand midwives and the history of midwifery.
axes
herbs
and
satchels
WORLD
PREMIERE
2025 Tour Dates
February 23 • Arts Garage (Delray Beach, FL)
March 5 • Wabash College (Crawfordsville, IN)
TBA • NYC
axes, herbs and satchels and NEWS!
- The Theatre Times, July 26, 2023
"There was a beauty to this draft, and the dialogue it prompted, that left me thinking for days afterward."
- The Empowered Artist Collective Podcast, June 2023
- American Theatre Magazine, March 15, 2023
"The investigative theatre troupe will work with anthropologist Dr. Haile Eshe Cole to create a play about doulas and Black motherhood."
EAG
Winter 2024 Residency
Co-Directors/Co-Scriptors: Sandie Luna and Melissa Moschitto
Ensemble: Jalissa Fulton, Asha John, Brianna Johnson, Sandie Luna
Lead Deviser: Jalissa Fulton
Contributing Writers: Devynity Wray, Melissa Moschitto, Sandie Luna
Assistant Director/Line Producer: Jayda Jones
Research Assistant: Shreyaa Suresh
Anthropologist-in-Residence, 2024-2025: Nadia N. Mbonde
Anthropologist-in-Residence, 2023: Dr. Haile Eshe Cole
Contributing Artists / Devisors: Nazlah Black, Jalissa Fulton, Miranda Hall, Asha John, Brianna Johnson, Sandie Luna and Nadia N. Mbonde.
This project is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, in addition to support from NYSCA/A.R.T./New York, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Episcopal Actors' Guild.
DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY
FEBRUARY 2024
Open Stage Residency - Episcopal Actors' Guild
OCTOBER 2023
Presented at Prelude '23, Invisible Dog Art Center
SPRING 2023
PHASE 1: Investigative Workshop & Research & Development, in partnership with American Anthropological Association.
Work-in-Process Performance: June 30th, 2023, 14 Y Theater