Kathy Witkowski's one‑act play "If Wishes Were Horses," presented at the Third Year festival at the Roxy Garden, centers on Maybelle, her aunt Edie and a character named Sharon who leads teach‑ins about self‑help reproductive care. The play alternates scenes at the Sunshine Miners Memorial and in a small‑town café, and its action follows Maybelle as she confronts a life‑altering choice.

The festival's producer, Sean Gannett, introduced the piece with a content notice: "This play... we do need to warn you too. We have a content disclosure that there are strong language and ****** content in this play," he said. The performance includes staged discussions and dramatized depictions of illegal abortions and community teach‑ins that the script situates historically before the passage of Roe v. Wade. At one point the play's characters discuss the later passage of Roe and its effect on self‑help networks.

Why it matters: the play dramatizes the personal and communal choices facing women before legal access to abortion and stages conversations about bodily autonomy and mutual aid. While the work is fictional, it explicitly engages with the historical moment when Roe v. Wade changed U.S. law and with the kinds of clandestine practices women used when legal care was unavailable.

Structure and staging: the one‑act moves across a small number of settings and uses a mix of naturalistic dialogue and staged tableau. Gannett noted that Witkowski is a local playwright and that the festival is presenting plays in development; the cast and creative team are exploring the script’s language and staging in front of live audiences. The production also contains a secondary content advisory for audible neighborhood motorcycle noise, which the host noted could affect some attendees.

Audience note and follow‑up: organizers told the audience that feedback collected through the festival’s QR form will be forwarded to writers to inform subsequent drafts. Video of the evening’s performances will be posted by MCAT when available.