[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of The Baby Dance, written by Jane Anderson, directed by Xavier Daniels at Whitefire Theatre, running through February 1.
The Baby Dance, written by the extremely prolific and award-winning Jane Anderson (Olive Kitteridge, Mother of The Maid), focuses on two couples from vastly divergent economic backgrounds thrown together by a pregnancy.
The couples are Richard and Rachel, wealthy entertainment executives who are unable to conceive, and Wanda and Al, who almost literally can’t stop conceiving. When pregnancy number six arrives unplanned, as usual, Wanda is completely overwhelmed at the prospect of another child to raise in their cramped trailer, or farmed out to her mother with the rest of her brood. So she arranges to adopt the baby out to loving parents with money…Richard and Rachel.
Rachel and Richard live in Los Angeles, and Wanda and Al in Tennessee. So Rachel travels to see them and Wanda’s growing belly every month or so. To make sure Wanda is taking care of herself and the baby, and to get to know Wanda a little. Contracts are made, money changes hands, and things get a little unhinged.
The relationships are the compelling part of this brilliant drama. How we create them, how we maintain them, and how we twist them to serve ourselves sometimes. At first, we think everyone wants the same thing. A baby to be safe and a mother to be happy. But things rarely work out the way we expect, and with four sets of expectations all vying for attention, it seems obvious in retrospect that it would all fall apart. If not for reasons we might expect.
This is a tense and harrowing tale, full of humor and vivid realities and difficult to watch on some levels. But the performances are absolutely brilliant. Particularly, the women around whom the story chiefly revolves. These two disparate souls are so far from each other in almost every way. They create a relationship based on mutual need and it serves them both until it doesn’t.
How interesting to be pulled into this world with them all. No one is comfortable. No one wants to be there, really. They all have their own very individual needs to fill, and in the end no one gets what they want in any way. It feels very real in that way. No sweet little bow, no smiling faces. Just life in all its brutality.
The performances are what hold it all together. Each actor remarkably insular, devastatingly focused on their own needs, they miss the point altogether and the drama comes from that.
I highly recommend The Baby Dance. As a mother, I had my own luggage to bring with me and just about everyone will have a connection, I am sure. But with performances this fine, you can let go of all that and just watch them struggle with life. The writing is so excellent that the characters feel real and they do stay with you…which is the real mark of a good play, I always think. And this is a very very good play. Bravo to all!!
Where:
The Whitefire Theatre
13540 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
When:
January 16-February 1
Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 8PM, and Sundays at 3PM.
Tickets:
https://1510laspalmas.yapsody.com/event/index/854405/the-baby-dance
The Baby Dance Team
Produced by 1510 Las Palmas
Directed by Xavier Daniels
Written by Jane Anderson
The Cast
The production stars Marianne Jaggard, Andy Davoli, Sara Barmada, James Jovanovich, and Briana Aceti.