Struggling to Conceive the Story of ‘Dish Babies’

A shortage of offspring was never part of the landscape during actress Eve Plumb’s stint as one of the “Brady Bunch” brood, so her portrayal of a woman’s desperate struggle to conceive is certainly a change of pace in “Dish Babies” at Studio City’s Two Roads Theatre.

Issue-driven with a vengeance, Karla Jenning’s new play is a semi-autobiographical tour through the maddeningly imperfect science of artificial insemination. Her heroine, scientist Megan Bloom (Plumb), runs an unending gantlet of humiliation, expense and disappointment as she’s subjected to invasive medical treatments with an increasingly low probability of success.

As an information resource for the issues, practices and emotional ramifications surrounding these procedures, Jennings’ play is comprehensive and speaks with convincing authority.

As a drama, it’s a mess.

What is never established by either the script or the performance is a sympathetic reason why having children is so all-important to Megan. Her motivation for undergoing these extraordinary tribulations is a sense of self-evident entitlement--outrage that she can’t exercise her God-given right to procreate, rather than a love or concern for the welfare of her possible children. In short, it’s all about her.

It isn’t until late in the process that a panicked Megan questions whether she’s even ready to have children. Hello? Isn’t that a question to ask at the outset?

This self-absorption manifests itself in dialogue that is more about articulating points of view than communication between Megan and the other characters. Bruce Nozick is especially hamstrung as Megan’s way-too-domesticated husband, who cheerfully squanders their savings on her obsession despite his upfront declaration that he doesn’t share her desperation. Thankfully, Patricia Harty brings a classy presence to the show as Megan’s artist friend and confidante.

The remaining characters are ciphers sketched in single scenes by Charlene Tilton, Ty Stoller and Steve Heller. The common trait linking their diverse multiple roles--from Stoller’s over-the-top street preacher locked in a glib ethical debate about “selective reduction” (aborting some of the multiple fetuses that frequently result from artificial techniques), to Tilton’s Valkyrie-like appearance as the personified drug Metrodin, to Stoller’s lab assistant who engages Megan in amiable chat before informing her he’s accidentally ruined her three-year research project--is that they bear no resemblance to the way people behave. Justine Lambert’s arty surrealistic staging touches are a further distraction from any realistic impact.

Before moving this show to New York for a planned off-Broadway run, considerable reworking is recommended--Do Gooder Productions needs to do better.

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“Dish Babies,” Two Roads Theatre, 4348 Tujunga Ave., Studio City. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m.; some shows Thursdays, 8 p.m. and Saturdays-Sundays, 3 p.m.; call for schedule. Ends Oct. 7. $17.50-$20. (818) 761-0704. Running time: 2 hours.