Drama review commissioned by Mumbai Theatre Guide, available here:
“Baby’s
Blues” by Tammy Ryan.
Directed
by Ila Arun and K.K. Raina.
NCPA
Experimental Theatre, 7 October 2018.
The bond between mother and child is tenacious, yet
tenuous. The very act of carrying a living, breathing being inside oneself for
nine months, the pains of birthing and the ensuing sense of emptiness and loss
all cumulate to an experience that can be extremely exhausting and traumatic,
yet cathartic and joyful. However, some women suffer an ordeal which is worse
than others, owing to post-partum depression.
Tammy Ryan’s “Baby’s Blues” is a harrowing study of
this crippling phenomenon and how it affects the physical and mental well-being
of one such mother. In this, Susan is unable to come to terms with what she has
gone through and how to deal with its end result. Her conflicting feelings
about her baby: helplessness, anxiety, frustration, rage and love, take her on
an emotional roller-coaster that
descends into depression and psychosis. But ultimately, acceptance and love
become her salvation.
The play is constructed like a spring that is
progressively wound tighter until it reaches breaking point; and is then
released. Yet there are moments in the writing where the focus meanders…until
it comes back on track. This production, jointly directed by Ila Arun and K.K.
Raina, follows its course faithfully, with the result that sometimes the
tension seems to flag; but is quickly remedied as the play resumes its
trajectory into this young woman’s private hell. The play mixes the surreal
hallucinations experienced by Susan along with her reality; and, in this
production at any rate, one is sometimes left a little confused: for example,
as to who exactly the young girl at Susan’s side really is.
Dilnaz Irani initially seems a little one-notey as
Susan in the first half; but comes into her own superbly during the second half
in the confrontation with her husband, which is perhaps one of the truest,
emotionally-naked scenes this critic has seen onstage. Her reserves of sheer
energy: physical, vocal and emotional, are quite remarkable; and allow her to
graph the woman’s devolving condition vividly.
She is ably partnered by Ankur Rathee, who is utterly
uncontrived and natural as her husband; and an excellent supporting cast, among
whom Anjula Bedi stands out as Susan’s mother, giving a chilling glimpse into
what made her daughter what she is.
The production is an object-lesson in the art of
staging, with an austere yet beautiful set, designed and gorgeously lit by
Salim Akhtar. The music and sound-design by Sanjoy Dazz and Ambar Das is
atmospheric and perfectly judged in its conveyance of an unsettled psyche. The
popular children’s song, “Row, row, row your boat” becomes a leitmotif, heard in various vocal and
instrumental guises through the play, and is entirely appropriate. The use of
body-microphones on the actors certainly helps in immediacy and comprehension
of the all-important words; though occasionally it becomes a little obtrusive.
Having said that, it is still relatively subtle, compared to the heavy-handed,
over-loud applications of this technology that one has sadly become used to in the
theatre these days.
In sum, this production of “Baby’s Blues” does
wonderful justice to the play. Although it can be heavy-going, it is ultimately
uplifting; applying not only to the agonies of giving birth but to life itself,
as in Susan’s final realisation: “Honey, you’re on your own…sink or swim”.
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