Glenda
Frank
WHAT IF THEY ATE THE BABY? “What If They Ate the Baby? ”
written, directed and performed by Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland
There’s something so appealing about synchronization. It touches our sense of order and comedy, and performers Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland, who also wrote and directed “What If They Ate the Baby?” are impressively adept at finding its many variations, from gesture to costumes and props. This is a very welcome out-of-the-box creation, the winner of three Fringe First awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The SoHo Playhouse production is its Off-Broadway debut. It’s a short piece, 65 minutes long, but it makes a big impact. There’s so much realism on stage today that this blend of controlled absurdity, surrealism, parody, and clowning is more than welcome. There is no verbal audience feedback, but in every scene the audience is invited to let their imaginations roam wild and free among the many plot hints that provide the texture of the work. The base is 1950’s reality, Dotty and Shirley, two traditional housewives (an absurdity in itself) are enjoying a visit, gossiping about a neighbor, talking about family and recipes, and one upping each other. Because these housewives look like no one we’ve seen on sit-coms based in the period, we’re ready for a roller coaster. Their color-toned outfits (Shirley in yellow, Dotty in pink) are at once a mockery of period fashions and delightful. The title itself arouses anticipation, which, wisely, the writers only hinted at once. The segment could have been inspired by Edward Albee’s “The American Dream” with its murder of a “bumble of joy” by its parents because it didn’t live up to expectations. There are different hints about the baby. One of the women is carrying a covered dish that could be a baby. Henry and Dottie are dealing with an unnamed tragedy. And there are police next door, perhaps arresting the neighbor. Most intriguing is the suspicion that one or both of these women framed the neighbor by leaving evidence of a crime at her house. At times there are allusions to a surveillance and a police state. The women are terrified to leave the kitchen although they try. There are periodic sounds of someone upstairs, loud thumps and bumps, and frightening noises from outside. Obviously they are in a fraught situation, which they react to by alternatively feuding with each other, fabricating, boasting, flattering, sharing –a lunch of spaghetti casserole that devolves into a food fight – and moments of hot lesbian sex. You can’t guess what genie is going to pop out of the bottle next, but you can be sure that there are going to be synchronized movements that are at once mirror movements and parody. The work, part dance routine, part dark thriller, part parody of suburban housewives, relies on repetition and hints of a danger. It is reminiscent of the Theatre of Images, popular during the 1970s by artists such as Robert Wilson, Mabou Mines, Meredith Monk and especially Tadeusz Kantor and his Cricot 2 company. Images and gesture dominate the script and the odd assemblage of characters and exchanges allows the audience room for their own interpretation and reactions. While I was delighted with Rice and Roland’s creativity, there were many repetitions so that my attention became dulled when a little innovation and diversity would have augmented my responses. Hints of new themes and narratives, the women bringing up new topics (like what happened with the knitting needles at a friend’s house) could easily spark those flagging moments. I’m finding my slow exploration of downtown theatre exciting, and “What If They Ate the Baby?” is a high point.
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