Baby With The Bathwater

Baby With The Bathwater - Christopher Durang
Hull University Drama Society
End 07/08 Term


It is unclear as to whether audience comprehension was high on Christopher Durang’s list when he wrote this play, but the Drama Soc treatment rendered the performance entertaining despite the almost overwhelming confusion. This bizarre nature versus nurture play saw parents Helen (Anna Esko) and John (Alex Davies) subjecting their unfortunate male progeny Daisy (Doug Ackerman) to a childhood of memories literally climbing over each other to be first into the ‘repressed’ bank.
Directors Tom Perry and Linzi Hamilton created the set; a vibrant and rather brilliant toy-filled Elysium, which almost made up for the limited performance venue which Asylum offers. The acting throughout was of a generally high standard, with Esko and Davies leading the troupe. Drama Soc regular Anna Corbett had a modest but well suited role, and Kit Hargreaves queer impersonation of Nanny was as excruciatingly disconcerting as it was down right amusing.
The experience overall would have benefited from certain scenes being cut down or entirely removed, but the more successful areas of the play teemed with ironic and uncomfortable humour, serving to rate ’Baby’ as among the best of Drama Soc productions of recent years.