Doctor Voynich and Her Children

by Leanna Keyes

Doctor Rue Voynich and her apprentice Fade travel the American Heartland dispensing herbal medications. Covertly, they perform abortions--long ago made illegal. Fade tries to help local youth Hannah complete her abortion, using knowledge from an ancient manuscript, before her mother and the sheriff can nail them for the “attempted murder of an unborn person.”
>>This post-Roe v. Wade play about mothers and...

Doctor Rue Voynich and her apprentice Fade travel the American Heartland dispensing herbal medications. Covertly, they perform abortions--long ago made illegal. Fade tries to help local youth Hannah complete her abortion, using knowledge from an ancient manuscript, before her mother and the sheriff can nail them for the “attempted murder of an unborn person.”
>>This post-Roe v. Wade play about mothers and daughters is poetic, sexy, vulgar, queer, and a little too real.

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Doctor Voynich and Her Children

Recommended by

  • Noah Good: Doctor Voynich and Her Children

    This play is absolutely incredible. Brilliant world-building (which feels all too real), complex relationships between characters, and a sweet and sexy budding queer relationship. A must read!

    This play is absolutely incredible. Brilliant world-building (which feels all too real), complex relationships between characters, and a sweet and sexy budding queer relationship. A must read!

  • Tyler Everett Adams: Doctor Voynich and Her Children

    The world Leanna has created in this play is absolutely extraordinary: it sits the perfect proximate between feeling dystopian and distant, and also close enough to be entirely possible. The characters are charming and richly drawn, and are wonderfully nuanced & trope-defying portrayals of queer and trans women. I taught the play in a Queer Theater class with much success last fall, and also directed a production; I've been in love ever since. Also acting teachers/coaches: it has *great* scenes for your scene study classes; or better yet, direct the whole thing! A stunner play!

    The world Leanna has created in this play is absolutely extraordinary: it sits the perfect proximate between feeling dystopian and distant, and also close enough to be entirely possible. The characters are charming and richly drawn, and are wonderfully nuanced & trope-defying portrayals of queer and trans women. I taught the play in a Queer Theater class with much success last fall, and also directed a production; I've been in love ever since. Also acting teachers/coaches: it has *great* scenes for your scene study classes; or better yet, direct the whole thing! A stunner play!

  • Grace Everett: Doctor Voynich and Her Children

    This play was taught in my college dramatic literature class, and HO-LY SHIT. I am astounded to see that it only has three reviews, because from the way it was presented to us, I had every reason to believe it was a part of the contemporary theatrical canon (which it should be!). Keyes creates a theatrical hellscape far away enough to be dystopian, but close enough to be fathomable. Not to mention the existence of queer and trans women in a way that does not turn us into spectacles, but instead, shows us as the resilient human beings we are.

    This play was taught in my college dramatic literature class, and HO-LY SHIT. I am astounded to see that it only has three reviews, because from the way it was presented to us, I had every reason to believe it was a part of the contemporary theatrical canon (which it should be!). Keyes creates a theatrical hellscape far away enough to be dystopian, but close enough to be fathomable. Not to mention the existence of queer and trans women in a way that does not turn us into spectacles, but instead, shows us as the resilient human beings we are.

View all 6 recommendations

Character Information

No one in this play needs to be white or pretty or skinny. Rue is a trans woman. Please cast responsibly.
  • RUE
    An herbalist
    Character Age
    40s
    Character Gender Identity
    Trans woman
  • FADE
    An apprentice
    Character Age
    Late teens
    Character Gender Identity
    woman,
    Non-binary
  • HANNAH
    A young woman seeking an abortion
    Character Age
    Late teens
    Character Gender Identity
    woman
  • JESS
    A mother
    Character Age
    40s
    Character Gender Identity
    woman
  • HARRISON
    An officer of the law
    Character Age
    50s
    Character Gender Identity
    woman

Production History

  • Type Community Theater, Organization Susquehanna Stage, Year 2024
  • Type University, Organization Linfield College, Year 2022
  • Type University, Organization Ohio University, Year 2022
  • Type Community Theater, Organization Uprising Theatre Company, Year 2020
  • Type University, Organization Rhodes College, McCoy Theatre, Year 2018
  • Type University, Organization Stanford University: [wit]: a gender conscious theater company, Year 2018

Awards

  • Bay Area Playwrights Festival 2018
    Playwrights Foundation
    Semi-Finalist
    2018