“It’s just the milkman”
Walking into the Soho Theatre Upstairs for What If They Ate The Baby feels a bit like entering an alternate universe that’s a strange mix between the 1950s and the modern day. Audience members are greeted by a set made to look like a kitchen, with checkered floors, table and chairs and a window frame that’s tilted – an indicator that not everything is as perfect as one might think at first glance. The show, written and performed by Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland is self-described as “an absurd and dystopian take on the 1950s American housewife.”
Xhloe and Natasha have made a name for themselves in the world of fringe theatre, having won three Fringe First awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and just recently made their off-Broadway debut at SoHo Playhouse in New York. I had already seen their other shows, And Then The Rodeo Burned Down and A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson Or God: Whoever Reads This First and was interested in seeing this performance before it returns to Edinburgh in August.
We are introduced to Shirley (Roland), who appears to have an obsession with ensuring that the kitchen floor is spotless, though she is interrupted by dreams of another woman who wears an opaque mask with bright makeup, making for a nightmarish duet. She’s pulled out of her stupor by her neighbour, Dottie (Rice), who has come to return a casserole dish. We’re given some information through their conversation – Dottie and her husband, Henry, are dealing with a tragedy, Shirley and Dottie appear to have some kind of history and there’s something strange going on in the neighbourhood.
The show is a mix of dialogue and dance, with the more complicated dance routines taking place in what feels like a dreamlike state, separate from the one we have gotten to know. When the lights are light and bright Dottie and Shirley are almost robotic, sounding as though they are sticking to a script of what one might hear from a 1950s sitcom. Almost happy – if it wasn’t for the frantic looks when they hear footsteps on the floor above them and the knocking at the door. Almost perfect – if it wasn’t for the strange looping of their conversation and little changes made. As soon as it goes dark, however, their movements become fluid and the pair become more intimate, switching between fighting and comforting one another as modern music blasts through the speakers.
It’s truly magical to watch Rice and Roland perform together, moving so perfectly in sync that one could imagine they are mirror images of one another. This makes sense as the pair have been performing together for over a decade, which has given them the opportunity to know each other on a level that can only enhance the performance. They even manage to make the purposefully awkward pauses of silence work, something I have found to be a rarity in terms of physical theatre. The show is only enhanced by Angelo Sagnelli’s lighting design and technical management, which especially shines during the dance-heavy moments with flashes of blue and red as strobe lights go off around the room.
There are many things one can take from What If They Ate The Baby?, as its absurdity leaves many unanswered questions for the audience to think about even after the show has ended. Queerness is explored through the intimate relationship between Shirley and Dottie, but so is the concept of surveillance and just how much independence one has in a world where they do not have the autonomy they desire.
The two women are clearly putting on an act, but one struggles to find the point in which the make believe becomes real and vice versa. It is honestly incredible how much Rice and Roland are able to pack into an hour, but I expect nothing less from them and their storytelling skills.
What If They Ate The Baby is an intriguing reflection on and reinvention of the cult of domesticity in the 1950s through absurdist clowning and comedy. Even though the show was made over a year ago, it still feels just as – if not more – relevant than it did when it premiered, in a world where gender norms and queerness are in danger. The mix of wit, excellent physical movement and a fascinating undercurrent of suspense makes for a fantastic and beautifully unique hour of theatre.
What If They Ate The Baby? is running on alternating nights along with A Letter To Lyndon B Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First until 29 March at Soho Theatre.
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