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The Good Adoptee
Written and Directed by Suzanne Bachner
Performed by Anna Bridgforth
Dramaturged by Bob Brader
Can you imagine not knowing your own identity?
The Good Adoptee is the riveting and outrageous true story of award-winning playwright Suzanne Bachner's search for the truth of her origins in the face of New York State's sealed records. Once she opens Pandora's Box, can she find a way to integrate her dual identities and still remain the Good Adoptee? Suzanne's play won awards for Best Autobiographical Script and Best Actress for star Anna Bridgforth when it premiered in the United Solo Theatre Festival in New York City. It was also named a Best Play by Indie Theater Now and is included in ITN's Plays and Playwrights 2017 Anthology. The show has toured to the London International Fringe Festival and all over the U.S. including presentations for Adoption Network Cleveland, Concerned United Birthparents - CUB (FL), Calo Programs (MO), the Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York and Adoption Knowledge Affiliates (TX). The Good Adoptee has raised funds and awareness for Origins Canada, Access Massachusetts and completed a 7-week 9-city Connecticut tour and 2018 NYC Benefit run to support the vital legislative efforts of Access Connecticut. A dynamic talk back with Suzanne and Anna follows each performance.
www.thegoodadoptee.com
Ridgefield Play Shines Spotlight On Secrecy Surrounding Adoptions, Ridgefield Daily Voice, Nov. 10, 2016
Rock Wilke's one-man Broadway play of Adoption and Discovery - video link:
http://pix11.com/2012/11/27/one-mans-story-of-adoption-and-self-discovery-makes-waves-in-the-big-apple/#axzz2hAWQyaYg
unnamed broadway musical: the musical
(no more performances)
http://unnamedmusical.tumblr.com/
Interdisciplinary artist Kara Hearn presents a defiantly optimistic, barebones, experimentally cast musical production that uses an orphan-themed Broadway musical (hereafter referred to as "[unnamed Broadway musical]"), as its point of departure.
The cast, under the guidance of an expert creative team, has the creative challenge of generating a production that somehow fulfills the performers' sincere desire to be in [unnamed Broadway musical] without them actually being in [unnamed Broadway musical].
Cast member Angela Williams (left) brings her experience as an adoptee and an orphan (her adoptive parents having passed away when she was 10 and 20) to the collective narrative of "unnamed broadway musical".
"Being the only adoptee in the cast, I wanted to touch on my own experience of rejecting the 'grateful orphan' persona portrayed by characters like Annie, and the struggle to become someone who is free to be disillusioned with some aspects of her own adoption. My character Millicent, is an adoptee herself, and an advocate for open records -- specifically, she wants the other orphans and adoptees in the cast to obtain their birth certificates. We were encouraged by the creative team to invent characters who fulfill an artistic or personal fantasy and therefore Millicent undergoes a transformation from peaceful advocate to violent vigilante via a musical number (tentatively titled) 'Millicent's Song'":
MILLIE (peaceful advocate)
As orphans we're labeled abandoned and we are.
As adoptees we're called chosen and we are.
My brothers and sisters we may never share our genes
But we share a loss that borders on obscene.
I have been here from the start
I have struggled next to you.
For records that are vital and worth more than a title.
Kid gloves cloak my fist.
No one will resist.
Children, heed my call
And watch as they fall.
MILLICENT (violent vigilante)
For years I've been your tireless advocate
Fighting the adoption syndicate
They act as if you're far too delicate
To handle your own birth certificate
Depression was my diagnosis
Adoption "issues" -- my neurosis
But thanks to our new symbiosis,
Witness my apotheosis!
I'm done with being masochistic
Now I'm only altruistic.
Some may say I'm a bit sadistic
But I'll wear their blood like bright red lipstick.
LINDA ZOBLOTSKY IS LUVCHILD This entertaining, musical and educational play explores the feelings of an adopted woman,
as she is looking for her Mother and her Identity
A One-Hour, One Woman Play
Music and Lyrics by Howard Beckerman
with 2 songs by Linda Zoblotsky
Inspired and co-written by Rick Paul
with uplifting direction by Wendall Goings
People are curious about how adopted people cope with missing information about their ethnicity, moods, quirks and siblings? Adopted people want to know, "What do my birthparents look like? Do we have the same talents? Why did they give me up?" There are 6,000,000 adopted people in the United States.
Audiences, students and even adoptive parents can learn and understand why adopted people want to connect to their families in this humorous and thoughtful performance piece.
Past Performances and Reviews:
Washington DC at District of Columbia Arts Center Nov. 9, 2003
Show was awesome. Thanks for adding a new dimension to my life. -Martha Gold
CUB Retreat at Williamsburg VA, Radisson Hotel Oct. 11, 2003
"LUVCHILD was great! Loved it!" Four Star review from here! -Lorraine Dusky
Thanks for being such an amazing entertainer, allowing each of us at the '03 CUB retreat to leave on a high note! -Karen Vedder
Joyous Life Energy Center, NYC Oct. 5, 2003
I thank you so much for your openness and heartfelt thoughts. -Sabrina Moore
Adoption Forum in Lancaster PA, The Post Resort Center Oct. 4, 2003
Thank you so much for giving us the gift with your wonderful talent, wit and sensitivity. I totally enjoyed it and laughed and cried. -Carol Chandler
Albany/Berkeley California, Albany Community Center Sept. 25, 2003
What a wonderful show. I really liked how you were able to honor your adoptive family and your birth family and how effectively you made your political point in a good lively musical theatre piece. -Jo Coffey
Tulsa Oklahoma, Nightingale Theatre Aug. 11, 2003
I called Karen Vedder, Concerned United Birthparent's President and told her about your show. -Tammy Russle
First Performance, Children of Light Healing Center in NYC April 26, 2003
Thanks so much Linda -- It was a wonderful play. You've got great talent. -Carol Schaefer
For more information, please contact Linda at lzoblotsky@yahoo.com or 212-229-7632
An adoptee, Brian Stanton plays 12 characters in his search for his identity.
http://thebrianstanton.com/BLANK.html
Rock Wilke's one man show begins with his biological beginnings.
https://rockwilk.com/broke-wide-open
M O V I E S
Song Without a Name (2019). A Peruvian mother's desperate search for her newborn, stolen by a fake clinic. Based on true events. Selected as the Peruvian entry for Best International Feature Film for the 2021 Oscars. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrw0YmZDhic
NY Times Review: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/movies/song-without-a-name-review.html
Not Wanted (1949), A naive young woman falls for a jaded musician in the 1940s, and finds herself "in trouble" with nowhere to turn. Co-written, -directed and -produced by Ida Lupino. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKV6DcQo4Z0
Three Secrets (1950), A five-year-old boy is the sole survivor of a plane crash. When the newspapers reveal the boy was adopted and that the crash occurred on his birthday, three women wonder if it's the son each had surrendered for adoption. Cast includes Patricia Neal. (Available for purchase on Amazon.) Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBnJ-a5FQ94 [Also remade in 2007 starring Jaclyn Smith.]
Lion (2016). An adoptee's long and desperate search for his family. Based on a true story. Oscar nominated. Trailer:
https://youtu.be/-RNI9o06vqo
Interview with Oscar-nominated actors Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman: https://youtu.be/i3PLxwpxuJA>
Interview with Sunny Pawar on Playing Little Saroo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGxR4qU-fag>
Interview with author Saroo Brierley on his TRUE story: https://youtu.be/XYovTcVyJU0
The Woman in Black 2 Angel of Death (2015). Trailer: https://youtu.be/eYk0slXSY6s
Philomena (2013). A mother's search for her stolen, adopted son. Oscar nominated. Trailer: https://youtu.be/x6ToSr_LSKU
Interview with Oscar-nominated star Judy Dench: https://youtu.be/5aNYKEuBBZg
Interview with co-star Steve Coogan and screenplay author/director Stephen Frears: https://youtu.be/2cTot4EY5E8
Baby Sellers (2013), a Lifetime Movie starring Kirstie Alley. Very frank about vicious babysellers, baby theft and sale, and the lies told to PAPs. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFXGftN5AmM
Approved for Adoption (2012), a multi-award winning animated film of a Korean boy adopted into a Belgian family and the pain, abuse and alienation he experienced. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecSk8hijonc
Oranges and Sunshine (2010). British "orphan" children (of poor and/or single mothers) are shipped to Australia to work as forced laborers and sex-abuse victims. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brsWKvi0yeY
Mother and Child (2009), directed by Rodrigo Garcia. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H87uMXAQzjc
Interview with Annette Benning: https://youtu.be/T2Y70Yce9M0
Interview with Naomi Watts: https://youtu.be/AxREtb6ztB0
Interview with Kerry Washington: https://youtu.be/A2X_3MkSYxg
Loggerheads (2005) shows the cruelty of outdated laws. It is perhaps the only film that brings up the subject of underground search networks. A sad but excellent film.
Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZlh97_2uuo
Interview with actress Bonnie Hunt: https://youtu.be/IcRWZG0L9w4>
The story of characters Mark and George: https://youtu.be/aFL9xyIcLEQ
Casa de los Babys (2003). Six American women travel to South America, hoping to adopt babies. With a great director (John Sayles) and cast, the film covers more issues than just adoption: It brings up the issue of poverty in third-world countries, especially for young women with dead-end jobs who can't afford to raise their own children. Trailer: https://youtu.be/A_-9-UItIqY
Antwone Fisher (2002). Troubled man from abusive foster home decides to face his pain and search for his family. Directed by and starring Denzel Washington. View film: https://youtu.be/TRgRX7El1_4
The Magdalene Sisters (2002). Confinement and abuse of pregnant girls and other innocent young women in Irish institution. Trailer: https://youtu.be/4dqMxvJLmew
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002), Australian Aboriginal children are forcibly taken from their families and sent afar to state-run schools run by the white majority. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU9sGXgnWGc
Secrets and Lies (1996), Michael Leigh's film of a (fictional) adoption reunion. View here: https://youtu.be/eEWKNr0Ljrk
Interview with star Brenda Blethyn: https://youtu.be/FkjscO5kE2w
Interview with Michael Leigh, Brenda Blethyn and Marianne Jean-Baptiste: https://youtu.be/L7IR6y8FHHo
Brenda Blethyn Wins 1997 Best Actress Golden Globe Award: https://youtu.be/IFEP003wMM0
Losing Isaiah (1995). Trailer: https://youtu.be/-ZXnvEun0sc
The Other Mother (1995), Carol Schaefer searches for the son she lost to adoption. https://youtu.be/RAwDGbGM06A
Stolen Babies (1993), a Lifetime Movie on black market babyseller Georgia Tann (Mary Tyler Moore) and the Tennessee Children's Home Scandal. https://youtu.be/GMIPBRLQ2N0
The Official Story (1985). Wealthy Argentinian adoptive mother has a crisis of conscience. Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IbHh9ixyxQ
A Stranger Who Looks Like Me (1974) trailer: https://youtu.be/qy6Tp4Ei53k
D O C U M E N T A R I E S
Brutal Murder While Playing Children's Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boLqDq6aeL4
Killer Adoptee,
"HELD CAPTIVE: Handcuffed to CRAZY Boyfriend That DESTROYED His Family"
https://youtu.be/i53wr_CETeM
"I Was a Black Market Baby", Taken At Birth.
https://youtu.be/ESyhEzX7WNo
'Part Of My DNA': An Adopted Woman Learns Of Her Birth Mother's Resilience.
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/26/717079333/part-of-my-dna-an-adopted-woman-learns-of-her-birth-mother-s-resilience
Three Identical Strangers (trailer). Evils of the Louise Wise Adoption Agency. As said in the trailer, "When you play with humans, you do something terribly wrong."
https://youtu.be/zWVRP9T5mF8
Nicole Chung, author interview: "All You Can Ever Know" & The Challenges of Transracial Adoption. The Daily Show, October 11, 2018.
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ln1dif/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-nicole-chung----all-you-can-ever-know----the-challenges-of-transracial-adoption?xrs=share_copy_email
Adoption Inc: The Baby Business - Fault Lines. Ugandan childen stolen and taken to the U.S. for adoption. Al Jazeera English, October 10, 2018.
https://youtu.be/zWVRP9T5mF8
Emotional Reunion in Sri Lanka. Roshani reunites with mother 28 years after she was forced to give her up. 60 Minutes Australia, September 13, 2018.
https://youtu.be/UTRJKRgJo7Y
The Right To Know: America's Adoption Crisis: Hosted by Michael Reagan, adopted son of Ronald Reagan, the video features interviews with experts in the field who discuss the history of closed adoptions.
https://youtu.be/XqlXE3XQrUk
A Right to Know: the fight for adoptee access: Jean Strauss's award-winning documentary.
https://youtu.be/EJAReUj1Uo4
Hard Rock Cafe, March 10, 2011:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC3Tnfj_R5Y
A Girl Like Her by Ann Fessler. Trailer:
https://youtu.be/ArcGxUr4XEI
Official website: https://agirllikeher.com
Assemblymembers David Weprin and Richard Gottfried at Manhattan City Hall Press Conference for the Bill of Adoptee Rights, filmed by Adoptee Jason Darnieder. http://vimeo.com/23230031
2007 New Hampshire opens records. Legislators and adoptees speak out. https://youtu.be/OfBMiKGUDLs
Remarkable film of Magdalene laundry women and nuns surfaces. IrishCentral, May 29, 2017 https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/irish-priest-s-filmed-inside-nuns-inside-dublin-magdalene-laundry#.WrUKa2FqgIk.email
Nancy Verrier, author of the book "The Primal Wound". https://youtu.be/cI0M0w_cLT4
Lecture on Adoption by Paul Sunderland. The relinquished child, trauma, abandonment, grief, addiction, adoptees are the real experts. https://youtu.be/Y3pX4C-mtiI
Annette Baran, Social Worker and Pioneer in Adoption Reform, speaks on the need to end adoption secrecy and change outdated sealed record laws. Sadly she passed away but her work along with that of Reuben Pannor, adoption social worker, to end the harmful secrecy of the past will be forever remembered. https://youtu.be/uDkh9IMTiiI
Professor Elizabeth Samuels, Baltimore School of Law, on some aspects of open adoption contracts. https://youtu.be/M92cT6pA-gI
CUB (Concerned United Birthparents). https://youtu.be/VnHttFHW0w0
American unwed mothers with CUB forced to give up children on Phil Donahue show. https://youtu.be/4TCR4ZCxiGM
Australian Prime Minister's apology for forced adoption. https://youtu.be/5hVbokTpYeg
Catholic Church in Australia apologizes for forced adoptions. https://youtu.be/bdXVZ59qP84
Given or Taken: forced adoptions in Australia. https://youtu.be/19Ie5KpfAwM
Senator Joseph Robach asks a Good Question: Why can't adopted children access their birth parent's medical history? (2016) https://youtu.be/skv8lFqs0W0
Dan Rather's investigative report: "Adopted or Abducted". http://www.axs.tv/news-and-docs/response-to-abducted-or-adopted/#.WrknXtMaXw0.email
Julie DeNeen on Genetic Sexual Attraction. https://youtu.be/d_wegqEwxz4
Father Unknown trailer on Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/37869038
Aida's Secrets (2016). This adoption documentary is a thrilling mystery from start to the final frames. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyQ5mC3ZzQQ
Latino Adoptees Talk About Identity. https://youtu.be/OSJ_k4KIO5k
Adoptees Speak. https://youtu.be/Dw5-Vd9tlmY
On abandonment and wealth. https://youtu.be/Iv6wSneHKB8
On pain and loss. https://youtu.be/mLkS1KKlUUk
Adoption Trauma with Noah Rothschild and Sophie Bain. https://youtu.be/hZ5mmjaj7T8
Adoption from the Adoptee point of view. https://youtu.be/BwOnQagQNuQ
Another adoptee speaks about adoption. https://youtu.be/8bXAAkJJEqY
Children of Shame: 800 "illegitimate" babies and children found in mass grave in Tuam. https://youtu.be/kWBwjR6QPhI
41-year-old Adoptee Deported After 37 Years in the U.S. (HBO). https://youtu.be/ORAGvfeGrqc
India's Forgotten Children from the lower caste can't even enter a police station. https://youtu.be/-j6LR7JBIKU
Japan's Throwaway Children. https://youtu.be/I50yAoCnA64
From Romania With Love (Adoption Documentary) - Real Stories. https://youtu.be/EU7vC3wUtMo
Adoptees use DNA registries to find their birth families, NBC 41 Action News. https://youtu.be/eZKbxGrBDf0
Shocking Discoveries from Home DNA Tests, CBS NY.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/video/3690524-shocking-discoveries-from-home-dna-tests/#.WV197Y_vcIw.email
An Australian Adoptee Uncovers Her Roots In Vietnam. https://youtu.be/40MMlMQZPy0
Cambodian adoption scandal (20/20). https://youtu.be/Gfnja90whuI
Diego visits his birth family in Guatemala. https://youtu.be/KapCfF_QI7E
Chinese Daughters. One Child policy. https://youtu.be/-tAoGJAR2vU
The Left Behind Generation: Chinese children being abandoned. https://youtu.be/ZCo9kvYcRsM
Adopted: Story of Koreans adopted in the U.S.A.
https://youtu.be/cYI686su6PY
What is Adoption Reunion Registry? including International Soundex Reunion Registry, Carson City, Nevada. https://youtu.be/VZPIPcYeiqol
In a Home for Unwed Mothers: Rosalie's Story https://youtu.be/uODjWRENCNQ
Kindness Reunites 67-Year-Old Homeless Man With Birth Mother, CBS SF Bay Area http://cbsloc.al/2FEwjlU#.WrT4uCwPMBJ.email
Singer/Songwriter Joni Mitchell interviewed on the loss of her daughter to adoption: https://youtu.be/U7TgqBYByUc
Putative Father Registry does not stop father from getting his son back. https://youtu.be/oSurFq54gJ4
Men should be informed so a child is not adopted without a father's consent. https://youtu.be/EnMxFOejK1I
Philippine presidential favorite, adoptee Grace Poe, is disqualified. Senator Grace Poe will continue to fight for the rights of foundlings. https://youtu.be/uQ0LUW2r-ss
Sheila Ganz, writer/director/producer/editor, is an artist, adoption reform activist and birthmother.
In 1968, twenty-year-old Sheila Ganz was raped, became pregnant, and unwillingly relinquished her baby for adoption. Twenty years later, she became an adoption reform advocate, was inspired to make a documentary, Unlocking the Heart of Adoption and found her daughter. This educational documentary chronicles Ganz's journey as a birthmother, and compelling first person stories of adoptees, birthparents and adoptive parents in both same race and transracial adoptions. Ganz has since testified at hearings before the California Senate and House Judiciary Committees on legislation pertaining to adult adoptee civil rights and birthmother rights. She has appeared on television and radio talk shows to speak about adoption-related issues and her 'Letters to the Editor' have been published in newspapers around the country. Sheila Ganz completed her studies at San Francisco State University, earning a BA in Sculpture in 1982 and an MA in Interdisciplinary Arts in 1985. In 1984, Ganz earned her Black Belt in Karate. Her site-specific sculptures have been exhibited at the Moscone Center, Golden Gate Park and Bernal Heights in San Francisco, the Paul F. Romberg Center in Tiburon and a commissioned work at Shenandaoh Vineyards in Plymouth, CA. She has also written two full length plays, Pretend It Didn't Happen and Leaving Joe. Currently, Sheila Ganz consults with adoption agencies and screens her documentary at colleges and universities nationwide. For more information visit: http://www.unlockingtheheart.com
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