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Culture Theatre

Strangers, Babies remains a mystery

STRANGERS, BABIES by Linda McLean (Theatre PANIK). At Artscape Sandbox (301 Adelaide West). Runs to May 28. $26-$39. theatrepanik.ca. See listing. Rating: NNN

Strangers, Babies is a mystery in more ways than one. At first, the main question in this realistic walkabout drama seems to be where or what the mystery is. The audience follows the main character, May (Niki Landau), around the large space with sections done up as various city locations (a condo, a hospice, a hotel, a park), but the central puzzle driving the action takes a bit too long to come into focus.

Over five scenes, each performed with May opposite a different male character, we slowly begin to glean bits about her that hint at a disturbing event in her past.

In this way, watching the show feels like detective work. Whether May appears opposite her oblivious and dismissive husband (Richard Ausar Stewart), her cruel and cold father (David Schurmann) or a super-awkward hotel fling (Richard Lee), our job becomes piecing together how and why she became so unhappy and conflicted and what all these interactions are adding up to.

The idea that there is a tantalizing secret behind it all isnt really introduced until the fourth scene. Its hinted at in the second scene with her father, but this isnt sufficient to properly frame the action. A script tweak to quickly introduce the existence of a scandalous backstory upfront, or at least very early on, would have helped.

The audience can explore the well-designed and decorated space freely during the performance (tip: pack light or find a place to stow your bag and coat before the action starts), but for the most part at the performance I saw, everyone followed May and remained stationary for the duration of each scene.

This is not required, and it would be possible to observe any of the other characters who remain live, conducting minor busywork in their areas even when the action is occurring elsewhere but youd risk missing potentially crucial dialogue happening in the main scene.

The ensemble is convincing, but each scene ends up as a similar antagonistic back-and-forth. This certainly conveys what an isolating slog everyday life is for May, but also gets repetitive and tiring. A few different dynamics even presented briefly could go a long way.

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