Camden New Journal - Theatre: Taking care of baby

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The Review - THEATRE by TOM FOOT
Published: 7 June 2007

A spotlight turned on truth

TAKING CARE OF BABY
Hampstead Theatre

THE Tricycle Theatre has effectively cornered the verbatim theatre market over the past 10 years with a series of heavyweight probes spanning Stephen Lawrence, Bloody Sunday and Tony Blair.
The format, where word-for-word transcripts of interviews are fashioned into drama, this week arrived at Hampstead Theatre for the first time.
Award-winning writer Dennis Kelly’s Taking Care of Baby does things differently – but at its heart is the same enthusiasm for the pursuit of truth.
It is compelling theatre that rises up and out of traditional forms into a theatrical stratosphere I had not experienced before.
The story starts with the complex case of Donna McAuliffe (Abigail Davies), sent down for smothering her daughter, but later released on appeal.
She returns to live with her careerist mother Lynn (Ellie Haddington). They shelter from a witch-hunt run by the local press.
The plot thickens when a psychologist gives a controversial analysis that she is suffering from a rare condition. He believes infanticide is the product of a burden of consciousness. For some people, he argues, knowing the truth of the world – “and really caring” – can stir some kind of maternal instinct to remove their child from it.
The advent of this controversial medical condition naturally adds grist to the reporter’s mill – he gallantly coins the phrase “Double Death Love Mother”.
Kelly exposes his characters, with the exception of Donna, as self-serving liars. He shows us how quick we are to accept things and that the perceived “loss of truth” can have catastrophic consequences.
The writer’s voice is projected on stage during his “interviews”. It gives the impression of objective naivety but do not be fooled – he is quite the puppet master.
Taking Care of Baby leaves you questioning. And what better purpose can the theatre serve than that?
Until June 23
020 7722 9301

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