“Ghost Fetus” reviewed by Jacob Davis

** Trap Door Theatre’s 32nd season opened with the continuation of the Trap Open series, in which early career artists are invited to experiment with the theatrical form in short-run productions that have lower ticket prices than is usual at the already modestly priced company. First up is Ghost Fetus, a super-lean forty-five-minute-long examination of faith and repression in a conservative small town. The play, written by Suz Evans and directed by their partner, Anna Klos, is mostly made up of poetic dialogues set to music and has a strong do-it-yourself aesthetic. Intensely emotional, it moves quickly but contains moments of profound grief.

The story concerns Whitney (Lolo Ramos), a teenage girl who self-induced an abortion following a disappointing first sexual experience, and is now experimenting with her best friend, Sarah Jane (Jacqui Touchet). Questions about her faith’s teachings in her small town are met with derisive scoffing, but Pastor Craig (Jenn Geiger) is secretly in a forbidden relationship with his friend, Aaron (Gus Thomas), and so when the girls come to him because they seem to have gotten crabs, his response is surprisingly tolerant, albeit distracted. Whitney is being haunted by the ghost of the fetus (Tia Pinson), who refuses to be forgotten, and is making it everyone else’s problem.

Since the play is extremely short, the premise essentially is the plot. Which is not to say that the acting, direction, or staging are lacking. The set, designed by amelia golomb-leavitt, prominently features an impressive massive picnic basket that serves as a prop box, sarcophagus, and metaphorical womb. Laila Eskin’s original music, which backs up chanted phrases, helps to rapidly transport us between scenes and moods. Ramos and Touchet capture the fears and fecklessness of adolescence, and Geiger and Thomas ably convey the yearning of not being allowed to fully be with someone even when you’re together. Tia Pinson, as the titular ghost, ironically comes across as the most mature of the characters, being emphatic, manipulative, and wise.

Playwright Suz Evans’ bio states that their work examines their fundamentalist Christian childhood and acknowledges that subject matter may seem far removed from life in Chicago. I was interested by some ideas onstage, such as the ghost equating herself with her mother and the other queer characters whose existence was rejected, and found the last scene cathartic, but it’s true that the play wasn’t for me. Part of that is because I don’t think it’s long enough to develop its ideas; the show’s insight into homophobia is basically that it exists and is bad and I’m not sure if Sarah Jane saying she and Whitney “gave crabs to each other” and what that implies about her understanding of what happened was intentional, her being tactful, or just rushed past. Still, the show could resonate with people who are closer to its subject matter, and it is contextualized by the Trap Open series as an experiment. The artists are certainly serious about exploring it to its fullest.

“Ghost Fetus” will continue at Trap Door Theatre, 1655 W Cortland Ave, Chicago, thru September 27, at the following times:
Thursdays: 8:00 pm
Fridays: 8:00 pm
Saturdays: 8:00 pm

Running time is forty-five minutes with no intermission. Audiences are advised that this show features strobing lights.
Tickets are $22. Visit Trap Door Theatre or call 773-384-0494 or email

To see what others are saying, go to Theatre in Chicago  Review Round-Up and click “Ghost Fetus.”