Additional performances of ‘Getting Near to Baby’ staged by the Theatre Arts Department at Utah State University are slated for 7 p.m. on Mar. 3 and 4 at the Morgan Theatre in the Chase Fine Arts Center.
LOGAN – The ongoing production of Getting Near to Baby by the Theatre Arts Department at Utah State University is a pleasant surprise.
The build-up for this show makes it sound like some kind of deeply moving tear-jerker about the death of an infant. In reality, Getting Near to Baby is a sweet little fable about children cleverly discovering how to cope with the weirdness of adults and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
That reduced expectation doesn’t make this show less challenging for its student cast, most of whom are attempting to portray youngsters half their age or younger. I suspect that Getting Near to Baby was written with the intent of casting it with age-appropriate performers. That isn’t an option for this production, but the USU thespians are so accomplished at adopting youthful mannerisms and speech patterns that the audience is more than willing to accept that conceit.
This a stage version of Audrey Couloumbis’ beloved 1999 children’s novel of the same name, which tells the story of youngsters Willa Jo and Little Sister who are sent to live with relatives after their family is shattered by the accidental death of an infant.
When faced with their impossibly compulsive Aunt Patty, the girls take to the roof and refuse to come down without an emotional breakthrough.
Playwright Y York has created a script for Getting Near to Baby that recaptures all the innocence of Couloumbis’ novel and provides the USU performers with warmly believable characters to portray.
Anne-Marie Kate plays Willa Jo, the older of the displaced children who finds herself in the frustrating situation of trying to mediate between her mute younger sister and adults who can’t or won’t comprehend her pain.
As Little Sister, Meg Roberts splendidly portrays a wounded preadolescent child, a real feat since she has not a word of dialogue to say. Ms. Roberts’ characterization is sweetly vulnerable on one hand and infuriatingly stubborn on the other.
Carrie Jackson plays the annoyingly idiosyncratic Aunt Patty to the hilt while Sumner Jones Shoell is amusingly sympathetic as the girls’ secret ally Uncle Hob.
Elise Willmore and Levi Hopkins are hilarious as the girls’ would-be playmates, if only they could get past Aunt Patty’s irrational biases.
Finally, Cathy Fugal and Mia Gatherum are the bane of the girls’ existence as a snooty neighbor lady and her insufferable daughter respectively.
Additional performances of Getting Near to Baby are set for 7 p.m. on Mar. 3 and 4 at the Morgan Theatre in the Chase Fine Arts Building.
As an added benefit for audiences tonight, the USU Theatre Arts Department is hosting a pre-show panel discussion about Getting Near to Baby on Thursday, March 3.
The panelists for that discussion will be Dr. Jennifer Sinor (a literature and trauna scholar), Dr. David Lancy (a childhood anthropologist) and Mary Heers (a theater educator) to answer questions about coping with grief, family relationships and community dynamics.
That panel discussion will begin at 6:15 p.m. in Room FAV 615 of the Chase Fine Center.