Stories on Stage: Exploration of Reproductive Health Through Theater

STORIES ON STAGE AN EXPLORATION OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH THROUGH THEATER

OCT 10 Schwartz Lecture

6:30-8PM Hall E

A collaboration between the Humanistic Medicine Program and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stories on Stage seeks to spark conversations about the landscape of reproductive healthcare in our communities and how theater can be used to share stories and process experiences.

Cosponsors Department of Ob/Gyn Medical Student Doulas Ob/Gyn Interest Group Performing Arts Appreciation Club

Stories on Stage AN EXPLORATION OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH THROUGH THEATER

6:30 pm

Welcome

6:40 - 7:15 pm Select scene from: Runneth Over Home Is Where the Fund Is 7:20 - 7:50pm Panel Discussion

Elevate is a theater company making art that explores public health themes, using storytelling as a vehicle for health promotion. The artistic work primes audiences, drawing them in with relatable stories. Elevate also provides opportunities for discussion and engagement post-performance with public health and healthcare professionals.

The Humanistic Medicine Program is part of the Office of Student Affairs at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

The program offers co-curricular opportunities for medical students—and the larger NYU Langone Health community—to engage with and explore humanities and bioethics.

THE CAST Runneth Over Monica...........................................................Princess Jacob Nadia........................................................Alverneq Lindsay Frankie..................................................................CARTER Home Is Where The Fund Is Vivica.......................................................Alverneq Lindsay Angel....................................................................CARTER Zee.................................................................Princess Jacob

PANELISTS Christina D. Eskridge, Elevate Theatre Moderator Aruna Krishnakumar, Callen-Lorde Elizabeth Markowitz, Medical student Dr. Christina Jung, NYULH Dr. Gwendolyn Quinn, NYULH

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Runneth Over, by Sabrina Jacob Washburn, was originally produced in collaboration with Elevate Theatre Company and the American Sexual Health Association Home Is Where The Fund Is, by ChelseaDee, was originally produced in collaboration with Elevate Theatre Company and Access Reproductive Care Southeast

Christina D. Eskridge, MPH is the founder and executive director of Elevate Theatre Company LLC. A performer, teaching artist, director, playwright, and public health professional, Christina believes live theater is a healing tool, ripe with opportunity to build community and promote well-being.

ChelseaDee is an interdisciplinary creator, artivist, and arts educator. Specializing in theater-making, she performs, teaches, facilitates, develops curriculum, curates, and produces arts events.

Her focus is creating new works of theater that highlight history, challenge dominant narratives, and ensure art is a tool in the hands of the people.

Sabrina Jacob Washburn is a performer, director, choreographer, playwright, and educator. She is currently the theater program director at Harvard-Westlake School in LA and held a similar position at Grade Church School in NYC for 10 years. She also taught at NYU in the Educational Theatre program and spent many years working with international students in Switzerland. Her work with students in various settings has ignited a passion for creating challenging work for emerging adults, as well as performances that span theatrical genres.

Princess Jacob is a NY-based actor. She’s appeared on Bull on CBS, The Christians at Baltimore Center Stage, as well as Home Is Where the Fund Is at UWL ArtsFest with Elevate. In the virtual space, Princess has participated in the 24-Hour Plays Viral Monologues.

Alverneq Lindsay (she/hers) is a creative producer and performer from Brooklyn. She is a producing fellow in WP Theater’s 2022-2024 Lab and provided developmental support for artists across various disciplines through her work as a Line Producer at The Public Theater as well as her artistic curation at Little Island and the New Victory Theater. As an independent producer, she curates spaces that build community through shared experience and emotional vulnerability.

CARTER (they/them) is a multi-hyphenate maker + performer + facilitator living and working on the unceded land of the Canarsie and Munsee Lenape People. Recent performance credits include: A Coup Against Resilience (New Perspectives), Seven Guitars (Actor’s Shakespeare Project), TIS PITY (Gymnopedie), and A Raisin in the Sun (Sharon Playhouse). Currently, Carter is performing in The Incomplete Collection with Linked Dance Theater. Come experience this immersive work through October 29 at Culture Lab LIC.

Dr. Christina Jung (she/hers) is currently OBGYN faculty and servese as the Associate Program Director of the Complex Family Planning Fellowship at NYUGSOM. After completing her BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with certificates in African American Studies and Neuroscience, she worked in Maseru, Lesotho in Southern Africa in public health outreach and pediatric HIV/AIDS before returning to hte US for medical school at Albert Einstein in the Bronx. She then completed her OBGYN residency at Mount Sinai Hospital, followed by a fellowship in abortion care and complex contraception at UCLA, while completing a Master’s in Public Health at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

Elizabeth Markowitz (she/hers) is a second-year medical student who co-led the Medical Student Doula club last year. After college, she studied medical anthropology and received her MSc from University College London, then worked in maternal-child health research at Columbia and palliative care at Hospice of New York.

She’s passionate about understanding and addressing social determinants of health, and hoping to pursue a career in OBGYN or psychiatry focused on empowering women.

Aruna Krishnakumar (she/her) is the Managing Director of Adolescent and Mobile Health at CallenLorde Community Health Center, most recently Site Director of Callen-Lorde Brooklyn, after beginning in 2016 as the Director of the Health Outreach to Teens (HOTT) which provides comprehensive health services tto LGBTQ youth ages 1324. She is a licensed social worker who received her training at Columbia University, with an extensive commitment to youth health. She currently sits on the Children’s Advisory Board of Amida Care and the Community Advisory Board of New York Presbyterian-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.

Dr. Gwendolyn Quinn (she/hers) is the Livia Wan MD Endowed Chair, Tenured Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of OBGYN and Professor in Population Health and the Division of Medical Ethics at NYUGSOM. As a health psychologist and bioethicist, her research focuses on health disparities and social determinants of health in patientclinician communication primarily in reproductive health and cancer in adolescent and young adults, LGBTQ health issues, uptake of genetic technologies, clinical trials, and access for care for minority and underserved populations.

FEEDBACK We welcome your feedback on tonight’s programming.

Please give anonymous feedback here: https://bit.ly/storiesonstagefeedback

CONTACT For more information about the Humanistic Medicine Program, please contact Jordan Reif at Jordan.Reif@nyulangone.org For more information about Elevate Theatre, please contact Christina Eskridge at ceskridge@elevatetheatrecompany.com