UW students, from left, Hannah Kipp, Kyriessa Lane and Maty Cameron rehearse a scene
from “Baby with the Bathwater,” Christopher Durang’s classic comedy that explores
how family makes us who we are. The UW Department of Theatre and Dance’s production
runs June 26-30 at 7:30 p.m. each night in the Buchanan Center for the Performing
Arts Thrust Theatre. (Donald P. Turner Photo)
The University of Wyoming’s 2018 Snowy Range Summer Theatre season continues with
Christopher Durang’s classic comedy “Baby with the Bathwater,” which dives face first
into the absurd waters of how -- for better or worse -- family makes us who we are.
“Baby with the Bathwater” runs June 26-30 at 7:30 p.m. each night in the Buchanan
Center for the Performing Arts Thrust Theatre. Presented by the UW Department of Theatre
and Dance, the production is directed by Assistant Professor Patrick Konesko.
Tickets cost $10 for the public and $7 for seniors, students and children over age
5. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more people. For tickets and information,
call (307) 766-6666, visit the Performing Arts box office or the Wyoming Union information
desk, or go online at www.uwyo.edu/finearts.
First-time parents Helen and John Dingleberry are woefully unprepared for the arrival
of their new baby -- too polite, or perhaps oblivious, to check its sex and a bit
disappointed that it does not speak English from birth. They eventually decide the
child is a girl and name her Daisy, even though Daisy is indeed a boy. Rearing their
child in a wildly unorthodox way, this naive young couple creates a lifetime of cosmic
and comic confusions for Daisy in this satire lampooning the pitfalls of parenthood.
“One of the reasons that I picked this show was because of the stylistic challenges
for both me and the performers,” Konesko says. “This type of absurd comedy requires
a different approach and aesthetic sensibility than more ‘conventional’ comedies,
and I was excited to take on that challenge.”
The play charts the saga of Daisy’s struggle to establish his own identity, eventually
coming full circle as the former Daisy and his young bride start a family of their
own.
“‘Baby with the Bathwater’ manages to balance absurd hijinks with more in-depth looks
at family life, childhood, identity and society,” Konesko says. “What is ‘normal’
for one family might seem ridiculous to another, and many of us have contested relationships
with our parents and the way they chose to raise us. This play offers a unique perspective
into this fundamental conflict that so many of us share.”
“Baby with the Bathwater” contains language and themes that some may find objectionable.
For more information, call Kathy Kirkaldie, UW Fine Arts coordinator, at (307) 766-2160
or email kirisk@uwyo.edu.
