THE BIRTH OF THE PILL by Jessica Huang

Opening Timeline Theatre’s new theatre in Chicago is Jessica Huang’s adaptation of Jonathan Eig’s book The Birth of the Pill. The play was developed during 2024 PlayFest Indy in 2024, in partnership with Indiana Repertory Theatre. In the mid‑20th century, a radical dream begins to take shape: a simple pill that would give women full control over their reproductive futures. Championing this groundbreaking idea are feminist activist Margaret Sanger, scientist Gregory Pincus, gynecologist John Rock, and philanthropist Katharine McCormick—visionaries working under intense secrecy amid legal, scientific, and religious roadblocks. Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico, clinical trials place the burden of experimentation on women like Ramona Delgado, whose lives and bodies become entangled in the quest for scientific advancement. Commissioned and developed by TimeLine and based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jonathan Eig (King: A Life), this world premiere brings an untold chapter of global history to the stage, probing urgent questions about consent, sacrifice, and the complicated cost of social change. The commission and development of The Birth of the Pill was supported in part by the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation. The Birth of the Pill runs September – October 2026.