Help D-Davis Stage A Meditation on Hope

Help Bring A Meditation on Hope to Life

Written by Columbia MFA student D-Davis (Diane Davis), this play weaves a gripping narrative that bridges past and present, examining the intersection of medicine, faith, and autonomy. Set in both a Puritan quilting circle and a modern-day fetal medical unit, the play confronts the forces that seek to control women’s bodies, asking: who controls the narrative and at what cost?

Performances

Friday, April 25—3:30 pm and 8:00 pm

Saturday, April 26—3:30 pm

ABOUT THE PLAY

A Meditation on Hope urgently connects history with the present, illuminating how the same forces of control, faith, and power shape our world.

Bette Singer, a dedicated fetal medicine specialist in Tucson, Arizona, whose lifelong belief in the American Dream—through faith, duty, and success—is upended when the reinstated abortion ban forces her to choose between her oath as a doctor and the future of her family. As she wrestles with the law, shifting cultural values, and her own identity, she accepts an invite from her niece and is confront by her sister’s longstanding resentment and the conflict over Justine’s teenage pregnancy. This story takes place against the backdrop of an impending eclipse, mirroring the crisis of faith, morality, and personal freedom that Bette faces.

WHY NOW:

We are living in a time where fundamental rights—especially reproductive rights—are under siege. A Meditation on Hope is more than just a play; it is a necessary act of resistance, a story that demands to be told. By bringing this work to the stage, we honor the voices of women throughout history and challenge today’s audiences to reflect on how far we have (or haven’t) come. Theater has always been a catalyst for change, and this play has the power to ignite dialogue, shift perspectives, and inspire action.

Donate Today & Share the Vision!

I’m seeking funding to bring our Equity staged reading of A Meditation on Hope to life on stage. Your contribution will help with:

• Workshop Development: ensuring space and time for actors, a director, and dramaturg can refine the script with me.

• Fair Stipends – ensuring all our collaborators have fair compensation so our production compensate all artists.

• Supporting Logistics: allowing us the resource to use the Lenfest theater in a creative way, to better express this story to an audience.

• Miscellaneous Production Costs – scripts, lighting, and the little things that come up to help us fully realize this vision.

Thank you for your support of any amount!

We are offering some special recognition at various donation levels:

$25 - Supporter Recognition

We'll include your name in our program as a supporter (or, just let us know if you'd rather remain anonymous).

$50 - Patron Seating

Presentations in Lenfest are free and general admission, but we will reserve two of the best seats in the house for the staged reading of your choice.

$100 - The VIP Experience

Thank you for making art happen! In addition to the above, you'll receive an invitation to the cast party, a commemorative program, and special billing in our program.

FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT

This play is deeply personal. Someone I care deeply for lost their child at 20 weeks and had to navigate unimaginable grief. While on a rooftop in Queens, on the day of the solar eclipse, we wrestled with the insurance company, while surrounded by community celebrations for this once in a lifetime solar event As I was dialing a callback, a banner headline popped up on my phone declaring the reinstatement of the 1864 Arizona abortion ban, criminalizing all medical procedures. The weight of this injustice felt crushing and hopeless. From this moment, my play, A Meditation on Hope was born.

No one should have to navigate loss and injustice alone. That is at the heart of my story —not just the personal grief that inspired it, but the collective struggle to make sense of an impossible reality. In the play, a workplace community fights its own battle—not just against bureaucratic red tape, but for compassion, for dignity, and a shared sense of responsibility. At the same time, we see a family torn apart by loss and the weight of opposing beliefs, forced to deal with the complexities of love, faith, and choice.

This story is about those moments of division, when grief isolates us, when ideology builds walls—but it is also about what happens when we reach across those walls. It is about the small, tentative steps toward understanding, the imperfect but necessary work of coming together despite the pain. Because even in our deepest sorrow, even in our fiercest disagreements, we are not alone.

Theater can spark change. If this resonates with you, if you believe in the power of theater to bear witness and heal, I ask for your support. Let’s bring A Meditation on Hope to life—because this story deserve to be told.

With gratitude and hope,

D-Davis