Be My Baby

You don’t so much stage a play in the Buscot Park Theatre as put it under a microscope.  It’s such an intimate space, seating about 50, that the audience can practically reach out and touch the stage.  Everything has to be small, and that includes the performances; as an actor you don’t need to project your character so much as allow the audience to look into your eyes.  “Be My Baby” was a brilliant choice of play for this venue: set in a mother and baby home in the North of England in 1964, it casts a light on a hidden world where unmarried women were sent to have their babies and give them up for adoption.  It is also a minute examination of the bond between a mother and her child and the emotional impact of that bond being broken.

This is a serious and thought-provoking piece, but it is leavened with humour and particularly by the inclusion of several well-chosen songs of the period.  These were tunefully sung along to, with the sort of backing group choreography that girls might very well have come up with in their bedrooms.  The costumes were authentically representative of the period, and indeed the production was packed with persuasive period detailing – the luggage, the hairstyles, the record player.  The set, principally combining elements of matron’s office and Mary’s dormitory, made effective use of the limited space.  The passage of time was indicated by turning over the pages of a desk calendar, and even here the detailing was impressive as the days and dates matched up correctly for 1964.  The dialogue includes some memory-jolting references to twin tubs and the like, with a vintage phone and a copy of “Jackie” magazine with Elvis on the cover just adding to the nostalgia.

Ultimately this play is about the performances, and the whole cast should be immensely proud of how they brought to life this sad episode in our recent past.  The director clearly understands what works in a small space, how in many ways this is more akin to acting on film than onstage, and she drew powerful and affecting performances from her cast.  I don’t think anybody could have left Buscot Park Theatre unimpressed by the production or unmoved by the experience.

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