A Solo Show About a Group Effort

Self-proclaimed storyteller Vicki Juditz is a diffident woman with a girlish voice and understated manner. She spends the bulk of “Where Do Babies Come From?”--her solo show at the Elephant Theater--seated in a chair, facing the audience, her hands clasped in her lap.

For Juditz, less is more. Under the direction of Alan Kirschenbaum, Juditz is a study in stage minimalism, letting words work for her, without flash or artifice.

Juditz, whose acclaimed one-woman show “Teshuvah, Return” dealt with her conversion to Judaism, returns to a wrenchingly personal topic in “Babies,” her account of her journey to motherhood via a surrogate. Kirschen- baum, a veteran television producer and Juditz’s real-life husband, shared that momentous and painful progression.

A deceptively prim figure in Naturalizers and calf-length floral dress, Juditz launches into her candid and often hilarious reminiscence with little ado. At age 38, after two miscarriages, Juditz learns that she is suffering from a rare congenital deformity that makes it impossible for her to bear children--a devastating disclosure that leaves her reeling. In the aftermath of her diagnosis, Juditz attends her high school class’ 20th reunion, volunteers in an inner-city children’s shelter, and fields insensitive inquiries from family members. Eventually, she and Kirschenbaum enlist the perky Megan (not her real name), a married mother of two, to bear their biological child.

At first, Juditz is leery of this “stranger” who will be her DNA vessel. But as Megan weathers crisis after crisis, Juditz is increasingly struck by the courage of this selfless ally, who repeatedly risks her own life to bear Juditz’s daughter. Once or twice, Juditz overstates her story, as when she lingers suspensefully over a graphic account of Megan’s C-section. But whereas other autobiographical solo artists might have slipped into narcissism, Juditz brings wider scope to her subject, a tale told with humor and humanity.

F. Kathleen Foley

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“Where Do Babies Come From?” Elephant Theater, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends July 20. $12. (323) 655-8587. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes.