I went to see Hairspray in a small, packed movie theatre the other day and practically leapt from my seat, grooving with cheesy abandonment to the melodic messages of size and racial discrimination (they were booty-shaking songs!). My eyes welled with tears watching Queen Latifah's character march against racism as she belts out her frustration through song. Only the strongest among us can resist the magnetism of the intensely emotional song stylings that prop up the musical genre. In West Side Story, when Tony sings to Maria, "Make of our hands one hand/Make of our hearts one heart/Make of our vows one last vow:/Only death will part us now", I feel like I'm falling in love myself. And musicals have played an important role as vehicles of social and political commentary; Rent anyone? This week, Plan B, the brand name for emergency contraception, is celebrating its first anniversary as an over-the-counter (but really behind-the-counter) drug. So when I heard that 22 year-old writer/director, Sara Cooper, is about to debut her play, EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION!: THE MUSICAL, in New York City, I had to know more.

Sara's play will open at the Theatre for the New City on September 13^th and run through September 30^th. You can buy tickets here. It's exciting when young women give us a window into their worlds, their thoughts, and their creativity. Projects like this one are important to highlight and Sara seems to have the passion, dedication and talent to inspire.

AN: Tell me about yourself.

SC: I am 22 (about to turn 23!). I graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Dramatic Writing in January 2006. Since then, I have written (both the book and lyrics) and directed a musical for the 2006 New York International Fringe Festival, had several pieces produced in off-off-Broadway venues and festivals, and I am now directing and acting in my newest work (again, as the writer of both the book and lyrics), EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION!: THE MUSICAL at the Theater for the New City, where I also have been known to dabble in Assistant Directing and Stage Managing. In September, I am entering an MFA program at NYU in Musical Theatre Writing, which I am very excited about!

AN: What inspired you to write a story about emergency contraception (EC) and a young girl's quest to obtain it? Have you had any personal experience with this issue?

SC: EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION!: THE MUSICAL and I actually go way back. A non-musical (and very, VERY different version) of the story was actually my BFA thesis. After taking a break from the story for about a year, I looked back at it and thought, you know, this would make a great musical. I called up my usual collaborator, the very talented composer Chris Shimojima, and we just got going on it. The play was actually inspired in a very round-about way. The original, non-musical version was more about the specifics of obtaining emergency contraception, which is a lot more complicated than one might expect. Then, at the end of college, I had a ruptured ovarian cyst and had to go to the emergency room. A week later I went to a women's health center for a follow-up–and all they wanted to talk about was my sexual history and whether or not my boyfriend was cheating on me! I came in with a legitimate and specific health problem but the doctor was very judgmental and invasive, practically blaming me for the rupture. I felt like I was in some clinic in the 1950s Midwest America, but I was at a women's health center in New York City! I thought to myself, imagine if I needed something like Plan B; what kind of witch trial would that be? I talked to a few friends who had gone through that and they all confirmed my suspicions. It's amazing how conservative people still are when it comes to birth control.

AN: Did you write the play with an eye towards any political controversy or was it the drama/comedy of the narrative that you were focused on?

SC: My intent is to touch on the issue in an entertaining way. It's not a thesis on emergency contraception, but I do hope it says something!

AN: I just saw Hairspray the other day and was sort of re-inspired by the structure of musicals to tell a story in such an intense yet inspiring way. Why did you make this a musical?

SC: I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Hairspray! I haven't seen it yet, but I'm looking forward to it. EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION!: THE MUSICAL is a musical for two main reasons: (1) I don't think there's any better way to tell a story than through lyrics and music, and (2) I love musicals. I guess those are sort of the same thing.

AN: Birth control, access to contraception, reproductive rights – these are all at once deeply personal and extremely political. I admire your willingness to confront this issue in a creative and comedic (and musical!) way. Was it at all a struggle for you to work on this?

SC: Thank you very much for saying that! I think it's really important to go for the real issues…otherwise, why bother? It was actually a joy for me to write about this. When an issue is close to your heart, it's easier and more natural to joke about it without the issue actually getting lost in the joke.

AN: What do you think about the current struggle for young women to obtain emergency contraception since, under the current FDA regulations, they are still not able to access emergency contraception over/behind the counter straight from a pharmacy?

SC: Frankly, I think it's a matter of lawmakers appeasing the sadly misinformed majority. Emergency contraception is not at all an abortion. It's mostly progestin and/or estrogen, depending on the type of pill, just in higher doses than you find in regular everyday birth control. Nobody wants an abortion; being pro-choice means believing that women have enough presence of mind and control over their own bodies to decide whether or not they can or should have a baby. If you want women to avoid abortion, give them access to emergency contraception so they won't have to have one!