My Mother Should Have Had an Abortion
Development Season | Part of NZ Fringe 2026
A painfully honest solo show about depression, mothers, and why love and like aren't the same.
At eleven, Joyann confessed her suicide ideation for the first time out loud, not knowing her mother could understand more than she let on.
Now, Joyann is unpacking the generational sadness and the uneasy gratitude of a Black woman who both wants to defund the police and thank them for holding space while she open-mouthed sobbed in their faces.
Through humor and honesty, Joyann attempts to turn grief into punchlines and healing.
"My Mother Should Have Had an Abortion" is not a tragedy - it's in the grand tradition of blaming our parents for everything wrong in our lives.
A meditation on depression, migration, and the absurd ways we survive ourselves, this debut one-woman show finds humor in heartbreak, tenderness in shame, and connection in the messiest corners of being human.
Joyann is a Toronto-born writer, teacher, and performer who has lived, volunteered, and worked worldwide - from Canada to Cuba, China, Germany, Korea, Spain, and Antigua (where her family is from). A former morning show cohost and stand-up dabbler, Joyann blends personal storytelling with observation and radical vulnerability.