‘This is Baby Doll’ – Factotum Theatre

THIS IS BABY DOLL – BY LIZ ARDAY
ADAPTED FROM ’27 WAGONS OF COTTON’ BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
AND ‘BABY DOLL’ BY ELIA KAZAN
DIRECTED BY LIZ ARDAY
FACTOTUM THEATRE – TAP GALLERY
4 – 13 OCTOBER 2012

Lea: So, this was my first time to Tap Gallery, despite having heard of it for years. What a great intimate space with a unique gallery foyer – I want to visit this place again. I always go into the sacred theatrical arena wanting to be taken away on some fabulous story/be moved by a heart wrenching tragedy/fall apart with side-splitting tales of truth. Baby Doll tried. It tried too hard. The performances flirted with authenticity, but I just didn’t believe them, they couldn’t deliver. Close but no cigar.

Sybil: So what Baby Doll did well was create a palpable sense of tension and anxiety, in a very slow, ‘southern’, Tennessee Williams kind of a way. Unfortunately the pacing was too slow – even for a very short show. It almost reached the point where I cared enough about the characters to be involved in the climax of the story – to be engaged enough to invest in the catharsis…. and it ended. Like mediocre sex where at the end you get a sense that it might have got somewhere… but is eventually disappointing and unfulfilling.

IN SUMMARY

PRE SHOW DRINKS: We accidentally crashed a 21st birthday inside the gallery section of the foyer. Oops! Great art though.
INTERVAL DRINKS: No interval 😦 Boo!
POST SHOW DRINKS: None. Poor form by us!
HANGOVER STATUS: We were on a roll beforehand, but the show killed the buzz.