Barbara's first play, "A Little Bit Pregnant," is the hilarious and heartbreaking story of baby-hoping and baby-making. She followed that with “My Friend Is Coming,” the chronicle of how young girls are ‘welcomed’ into puberty.
Barbara Brown performs "My Friend Is Coming." Plunging into the myths and mysteries of the biological life cycles of women, she discovers humor in menstruation and the marketing of hygiene products. Brown uses her unique comic style to transform embarrassment into good-natured laughter while exploring the rite of passage to becoming a woman."
-- Anchorage Chronicle
Barbara Brown has never bowed to convention, and she continues in her typical in-your-face attitude with "My Friend Is Coming," a hilarious and at times almost discomforting romp through periods, maxi-pads and other unmentionables.
Besides being funny, Brown was achingly real as she told stories of various women's initiations into the world of menstruation, some funny, some serious, all touching and tender. We laughed, but behind that laughter was a hint of pain and shame and embarrassment, along with the absurdity of harboring such feelings over something so simple and natural as the functions of our bodies.
One priceless moment was Brown's scene of a young girl trying to insert a tampon for the first time. "I can't find the right place," she cried out in frustration, and the audience roared. It was all so familiar and ridiculous and memorable. The ending was almost shockingly blunt yet perfectly executed.
-- Anchorage Daily News
Both these plays premiered at Out North Theatre in Anchorage, as part of their "Under 30" festival of short plays (under 30 minutes). "A Little Bit Pregnant" went on to a run with the San Francisco Fringe Festival in 2001. "My Friend Is Coming" opened in 2004.
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