Baby With The Bathwater

I had never heard of Christoper Durang until I came to NEC and worked on Betty's Summer Vacation fall of my sophomore year. I had some issues with understanding the nuances of some of the characters as well as of some of Durang's humor. Today I went to go see another Durang play at NEC Baby With The Bathwater. Unlike Betty's Summer Vacation this play had a good mixture of serious and funny moments which is what made it enjoyable.

Baby With The Bathwater marked the directorial debut for my good friend Nate Hartley who is a junior. I found it to be a very enjoyable show and the cast was very strong and versatile. The play is about a dysfunctional family Helen (Dominique Grant 12') and John (Elliot Greer 10') At the opening of the show they are dealing with a new baby who do they not quite know the gender of . I found this plot point to be kind of confusing honestly. As the child who named Daisy grows older the dysfuction seems to grow more evident and the dynamic between the characters of Helen and John is really what made the show work. In the early days they hire a Nanny (Leanne Derosa 11') who is kind of representation of good parenting that John and Helen are meant to follow but I am not sure if they ever really catch into that vibe through out the play. In scene two there is a really powerful seen between Miss Pringle (DeRosa and the principal Patricia Als 13') when Ms Pringle approches the principal about a disturbing essay Daisy has written. The principal does not find the essay to be disturbing and thinks that there is nothing wrong with the student when she is obviously disturbed. In the following scenes Young Man (Rene Cobar 11') is seeing a counselor and recounts his family situation and the confusion of his childhood. The truth of dysfunction comes out and how bady it has affected Daisy who through out the scene talks about changing his name various times. The ending is quite happy as Daisy who ends up changing his name to Alexander ends up marrying Susan (Jacci Drummond 10') and they have a child of their own.

Congrats to Nate the cast and crew on fabulous show!