Code Pink Review – Life on a Maternity Ward

Britt Crisp - Photo by Parker Johnson/PCJ Photography
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Over the past 16 months, the NoHo Arts District has lost almost all of its theaters – and the Loft Ensemble is one of only a few that remain. To celebrate the return of live theater, CODE PINK is the Loft’s first post-pandemic production and reflects the effects of COVID, streaming, and theater shut-downs all too well. The program offers special thanks to St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, where the ensemble perform every weekend.

Ignacio Navarro and Matt Monaco – Photo by Parker Johnson/PCJ Photography

As it opens its 2021 season, Loft Ensemble in North Hollywood is sending its audience to the hospital – or at least as close to a hospital as a stage and masks will allow. And it’s not for COVID-19 either! Written and directed by Adam Chambers and Jana Lee Hamblin (with contributions by various cast members), CODE PINK shares new life with the world. Inspired by real people and real stories, CODE PINK follows events during a 24-hour shift on a hospital maternity ward, where the audience can peek into the thoughts and feelings of physicians, nurses, and administrators who work there and the patients they serve. The play program says it all with thanks, “gratitude, and love for Sara Brown and the nurses in the maternity unit at Los Robles Hospital, first responders, and all nurses everywhere.”

Bree Pavey and Nicole Craig in CODE PINK – Photo by Parker Johnson of PCJ Photography

The CODE PINK cast is large and multi-talented as they portray the medical and administrative staff who keep the maternity ward running smoothly and the patients who hope to deliver healthy and happy babies. From the worn-out, stressed, and jaundiced medical helpers to the loving and forever hopeful optimists – from the burned out to the hyped up – from the naïve pregnant teen to the childless couple hoping for parenthood – from the gay couple who want to create a family – each and every story is told with compassion and caring.

Bahasi Chapman – Photo by Parker Johnson/PCJ Photography

Kudos to the cast and crew of CODE PINK as they surf through the good and the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. The play is dotted with multiple individual cast monologs in a very “zoom-like” approach to the story. Clearly, live streaming which exploded during the pandemic has had a profound effect on many technical aspects of the production. Madylin Sweeten Durrie’s scenic design, Tor Brown’s lighting, Travyz Gatz’s sound and projection, Amanda Chambers’ graphics, Victoria Greenwood’s video – all add to the overall spirit and ambiance. CODE PINK is a gentle but profound study of a world beginning to look to rebuilding and creation.

Vel Stacy – Photo by Parker Johnson/PCJ Photography

CODE PINK is presented at 8 p.m. on Saturdays and at 7 p.m. on Sundays. The Loft Ensemble is located at 11031 Camarillo Street, North Hollywood, CA 91602. Tickets are Pay-What-You-Want. For information and reservations, call 818-452-3153 or go online.

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