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WSU Studio Theater continues strong season with Tina Howe's "Birth and After Birth"

WSU Studio Theater continues strong season with Tina Howe’s “Birth and After Birth”

 

By SUE SUCHYTA

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            Wayne State University’s Studio Theater continues its strong season with Tina Howe’s “Birth and After Birth,” a delightful absurdist comedy in which a couple trying to impress another couple with their parenting success actually ignore their own child amidst their intense verbal one-upmanship.

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            Bill and Sandy, entertainingly played by Nick Yocum of Royal Oak and Lisa Youngs of Wyandotte, are parents of 4-year-old, Nicky, a role intentionally played by a young man, the wonderfully versatile Jordan Fritz of Detroit channeling his “inner child.”

            The sleep-deprived parents in this absurdist comedy are blends of many parents who end up being reactive to their child’s unpredictable behavior rather than the other way around.

            We see a generous pile of brightly wrapped presents pushed aside when the grown-ups ignore Nicky’s heartfelt plea to make a wish on his birthday cake candles.  

            We watch Jeffrey, a video-obsessed dad inadvertently teach his son new naughty words when the boy will not “act naturally” for him.

            Meanwhile Sandy pulls an all-nighter pursuing illusive birthday party decoration nirvana. She is feeling older by the minute, hallucinating ocean waves and salt water, perhaps her own symbolic wish to return to the safe haven of the womb. Simultaneously she obsesses over her appearance as she worries about her thinning, diminishing hair as she magnifies other signs of aging.

            Nicky’s parents also obsess over the impending arrival of their friends, Mia and Jeffrey Freed, globetrotting anthropologists, played with entertaining aplomb by Hope Morawa of Lincoln Park and Shane Nelson of Windsor, Ontario. The couple study children in remote tribes, yet are afraid to venture onto the parenthood runway themselves.

            Audiences will see themselves as well as friends and family in the fast-paced play that pokes fun at the human foibles of parenting a child in the competitive computer age.

            Julie Moriarty directs the play, which features a colorful, eclectic scenic design by Jessica “Clover” Rushing.

            Prop master Lisa Charlotte Berg admirably completed a long list of visually impressive and well-integrated props.

            “Birth and After Birth” continues its run at WSU’s Studio Theater at 8 p.m. Jan. 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25 in the lower level of the Hilberry Theatre, 4743 Cass Ave. at Hancock on the WSU campus.

            Tickets are $10 and $12, and are available by calling the box office at 313-577-2972 or online ordering at theatre.wayne.edu. 

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