You might want to get that checked out. Photo: C. Stanley Photography
A glowing baby, nestled in a sea of plastic tubs, emitting an eerie fluorescent light. What affliction is causing the child to appear so translucent, yet so utterly beautiful, to those who look upon it? And should the audience be considering him as a literal child or some sort of mythical symbol?
These are a few mysteries put forth by The Electric Baby, a Rorschach Theatre production directed by Randy Baker that seems to have one foot in the real world and the other in abstract myth. Its shimmery titular character is the play’s visual centerpiece (in an otherwise spare set, at least by this company’s standards). But really, it’s not the show’s primary concern. What largely drives The Electric Baby is its surrounding sea of characters, all affected in some way by a tragic car wreck that leaves one person dead, others injured, and even more wracked with guilt, loss, and despair.
Gently easing the audience into this world is Natalia (Jennifer J. Hopkins, who possesses a certain effortless rapport with the audience), who naturally breaks the fourth wall to welcome viewers into her world. The mother of the baby, Natalia fears the Evil Eye and possesses an almost endless well of home remedy-type pillars of wisdom (perhaps all that’s needed to cure body odor sufferers is a couple of potatoes). Her amusing nuggets of advice stand in contrast to some of the more ethereal stories shared in the piece, such as the tales of the origin of the moon delivered by her husband, an immigrant cab driver named Ambimbola who was injured in the play’s central car accident. But regardless of their tone, stories and fables are a powerful force in The Electric Baby (it’s not surprising the play appealed to the myth-obsessed Rorschach). They help bond together such individuals as Abimbola (J. Shawn Durham, in a layered performance that remains quietly joyful, in spite of his character’s deteriorating circumstances) and Rozie (a defiant Sarah Taurchini), a part-time escort who loses a close friend (Kiernan McGowan) in the crash.
The Electric Baby is consistently straddling a line between a more straightforward story and a mystical tale. This gives the show a certain muddiness that can sometimes be confusing rather than otherworldly (when Rozie’s friend begins to haunt her at every turn after death, McCowan delivers some of the show’s most menacing moments—but his harassment drifts away without confronting the phenomenon). Most closely grounded in reality is a storyline between a troubled married Pittsburgh couple, Helen and Reed (Cam Magee and William Aitken, respectively), further pushed apart by the accident. Early in the show, Magee’s performance seems the most stilted. But it’s heartening to see her relax in the role as The Electric Baby awards Helen, in the end, the most personal growth — and by some standards, the most hopeful outlook.
The Electric Baby runs through May 15 at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. Tickets ($30) are available online.
