Hypothetical Baby brings deeply personal conversation about abortion, parenthood to Here For Now

Rachel Cairns in Hypothetical Baby.

By: Galen Simmons

For playwright and performer Rachel Cairns, the idea for Hypothetical Baby began with a deeply personal experience and a question she thought would have a relatively straightforward answer.

After becoming pregnant and deciding she wanted an abortion, Cairns went to her doctor to ask how she could access one. Instead of leaving with an answer, she said she was questioned extensively about her decision.

“I basically was like, ‘How do I get an abortion?’ And then he kind of turned around and interrogated me about my choice with a litany of questions,” Cairns said. “I left the office actually not with an answer to my original question.”

That encounter became the opening scene of Hypothetical Baby, Cairns’ autobiographical, one-woman play coming to Here For Now Theatre in Stratford Sept. 2-13.

Written and performed by Cairns and directed by Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster, the approximately 80-minute production combines data and drama with humour and frank storytelling to explore abortion, reproductive choice, parenthood and the social and economic circumstances that influence those decisions.

As Cairns went through her own abortion experience, she found herself considering how much more difficult navigating the process could have been without her supportive family and ability to find information herself.

“What if I was in an abusive relationship? What if I had been sexually assaulted? What if English wasn’t my first language?” she recalled wondering. “There were so many qualities or circumstances to a person around the choices of pregnancy.”

Hypothetical Baby premiered in Toronto in late 2023 with the Howland Company and was remounted by Nightwood Theatre in early 2025. Stratford will mark the production’s first run outside Toronto.

Cairns said one of the most common responses following those earlier productions was audience members sharing their own abortion experiences with her.

While abortion provides the narrative through-line, Cairns said the play ultimately asks a broader question about what it means to consider having children in Canada today.

“It also kind of has this sneaky other thing that it’s actually about, which is the question of how do we have children in today’s world,” Cairns said.

That aspect of the play has taken on new meaning since Cairns became a mother herself. She has rewritten the ending for the Stratford production to reflect how parenthood has changed her perspective on the story.

Cairns said becoming a parent reinforced many of her concerns about whether Canadian society provides enough support for parents, children and caregivers.

“I long for a world where children are not luxury items,” she said, adding she hopes audiences leave thinking about the social infrastructure – from health care and education to economic security – required to allow families and children to flourish.

Cairns said Here For Now was particularly receptive when she was looking for another home for the production, something she appreciates given what she sees as a continuing reluctance among some theatres to put abortion openly onstage.

“I do think this is an under-told story,” Cairns said.

More than anything, she hopes bringing Hypothetical Baby beyond Toronto will encourage conversations that extend beyond abortion itself to reproductive choice, parenthood and the responsibilities people have to one another.

“I really think that we live collectively and we live in community,” Cairns said. “I want people to think about kind of what we owe each other.”

Hypothetical Baby runs Sept. 2-13 at Here For Now Theatre, 24 St. Andrew St., Stratford. Tickets range from $33.90 to $41.24, plus applicable fees. The production is recommended for audiences 16 and older and contains mature subject matter.

Tickets and more information are available at www.herefornowtheatre.com.