The Alien Baby Play is a weird little play, but it’s a good one. Bethany (Kathleen Fletcher) plays a 15-month pregnant lady who’s invited an audience for the arrival of her extra-terrestrial offspring.
She’s a nervous personality anyway, and given the circumstances, her regular tics and twitches have now graduated into some full-on crazies. She is terrified of what will soon emerge from her body: A monster? An alien? A child who wants to be loved? She endures this state with an endearing wryness and confusion.
It’s thanks to Fletcher that the show succeeds; she plays both the hysteria and the humor, and she engages the audience as a second character in the play, making whatever they bring into part of her story. One might call it nimble: the ability to play a role so thoroughly that the unexpected only feeds a performance.
The script from Nicholas Walker Herbert is puzzling but clever. Gary Jaffe‘s direction is great, based on the strength of Fletcher’s work. This Tutto Theatre Company show provides an evening of goofy, quirky entertainment.
Remaining performances: Saturday, Jan. 28, 1pm; Sunday, Jan. 29, 8:45pm; and Sunday, Feb, 5, 7:15pm, at Salvage Vanguard Theatre, 2803 Manor Rd.
Running Time: 1 hr., 30 min.
For more information, visit www.hydeparktheatre.org.
This article appears in January 20 • 2012.