Predictor – 12 December 2025

Bitingly comedic and strikingly witty, Predictor tells the story of home pregnancy test patenter Meg Crane, who fought hard for her contributions because nobody believed a woman would be capable of taking a home pregnancy test, let alone inventing one. The production leaned into absurdity and sarcastically over exaggerated the ridiculous claims that Meg (Caitlin Kinnunen) was hysterical by making fun of men and taking the story out of its physical location and into hypothetical constructions like game shows and commercials, as well as Meg’s religious upbringing. The play achieves that rare balance between comedy and drama in a way that is engaging, fun to watch, and also deeply meaningful in terms of understanding how hard women struggled for basic level recognition and respect. Predictor is also timely in a post Roe world, as it examined some of the ethics that the initial home pregnancy test had to confront regarding what women would do with the information once they knew that they were pregnant.

Performance wise, everyone in the cast was evenly matched, making for a very consistent and enjoyable journey through Meg‘s mind and the production. Director Alex Keegan made very impressive use of a very small space, and though it never seemed overcrowded, the story definitely deserves a larger space and a wider audience. Jennifer Blackmer’s script made excellent use of both characters and caricatures. At times the anecdotes spoke for all men or all women and other times specific men and specific women. The show cultivated anatmosphere that was comedic and pleasant, despite the fact that it was causing the protagonist an intense amount of stress. This was a situation in which we could laugh because we knew as an audience that Meg succeeded. Had we really been on this journey with her, we might have felt her frustration more tangibly, and it might have manifested as our own. The creative team did an incredible job of separating all of the worlds of Meg‘s mind into a farce that we could laugh at. The story ends with every other woman in the cast playing Meg, hammering home the idea that Meg was working for all womankind. In many of the absurdist moments, Meg stands in the light alone, blinded and confused by the ridiculous world taking shape around her; this ending serves to connect her back to her context and the future of her idea, which touches everyday lives every day.

One of the most poignant scenes in the show was when a woman from the typing bank (Jes Washington) comes to see Meg in the lab because doctors refused her pregnancy tests without her husband present and, well… she wasn’t married. Meg, who is on the verge of giving up as the men who make the decisions are not listening to her, gets to see an in person manifestation of who her innovation would be helping. This moment contrasts the absurdity and provides some much needed clarity about the importance of continuing to fight for justice in a ridiculous world. This scene is heartbreaking, as Meg really doesn’t have a working model to give the woman. It is later mentioned that this woman disappears. It is highly possible she was fired for being pregnant; there are worse things that are also possible. 

What’s brilliant about Predictor is that it holds space for tears as well as laughter. Even the tampon advertisement, game show, menstruation infomercial, face the press TV moment, church sermon, and memories of Meg’s matriarchs, represent moments of cruelty towards women in a world dictated by men.  Part of the grand strategy of these shorts is to bring to light that women had to live with these injustices as matters of policy, not just hypothetical ideas. It’s a powerful reminder that these archaic ideas were enforced not that long ago. Meg’s creation was not simply a scientific breakthrough, it also represented liberation and a step towards women’s self determination as human beings. Predictor warns us of what we could go back to if we keep reinforcing harmful gender stereotypes, while asserting that there’s more to being a woman than the ability to get pregnant. It’s a great show with high entertainment value and an important message to bring to the world: women deserve access to medical care and the right to know what’s going on in their own bodies. They’re intelligent enough to change the world.

I attended this performance on a press pass from Emily Owens PR.