BABY FEVER (Covid & Cigarettes/Aurora Theatre)****

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1z5tLKQO9k&list=PLwhWmWJPoEmF8P780nCvmV74Zv_kK-FGQ&index=1

Available until: January 7th

I think there are two ways of interpreting the title of this story. ‘Baby fever’ could be a desperation to have babies or the fact you almost feel like you’ve got a fever because you’re so stressed by your children!

The play is about two sisters. The older sister has three children and is really feeling the stress, especially with the pandemic. The younger sister is trying for a baby and can’t wait. I think Michelle is the older sister and Rachael is the younger sister.

It’s quite short, but it’s an interesting view of parenthood. There are lots of things in the story which are sad, but Marj O’Neill-Butler has still managed to make her play funny.

As we are in a pandemic, it isn’t possible for the actors to sit close together for the filming. Even social distancing can be awkward with two people sitting on the same sofa because most sofas aren’t two metres long. Director and video editor Joyce Lo has got around this problem by filming them separately and then putting the videos together so the videos appear to be side by side.

I’m not sure how it was filmed. They seem to be sitting on the same sofa, so it’s possible they took it in turns to sit there, but the actors interact so well, I’m not sure how likely that is. It’s probably more likely they were sitting on separate but identical sofas. But whatever they did, it works.

The actors are really good. Hope Carter seethes with frustration as Michelle as she described the difficulties of parenthood. Erika Frase is happier and more upbeat as Rachael, who has it all to look forward to.

It’s a good play and I imagine most mothers have had moments when they feel like Michelle and regret having children. I really hope it’s just a moment. But it does also make the point that some people have kids because it’s expected of them rather than because they really want them and that makes life really difficult for everyone. I love being a mum, but it really is okay not to have babies if you don’t want them. If you don’t have kids, you miss out on kids. If you do have kids, you miss out on having an extra close relationship that’s just about you and your partner and you miss out on a lot of freedom. Whatever we do, we miss out, but if we live the life we want to have, we gain a lot too.