PREVIEW
Happy Birthday Baby J
Shadow Theatre
Jan. 22 to Feb. 9
Varscona Theatre
10329 – 83 Ave.
Tickets: Start at $22 online at shadowtheatre.org
Two-year-old J is pretty much like any other toddler his age – except for one thing: J’s parents are raising the child as gender neutral.
J’s progressive, well-educated parents, Gary and Louise, see their child’s gender as fluid rather than binary. Not wanting to pigeonhole their child’s sex into a stereotype, Gary and Louise chose a name without a gender designation. J is a “they or them.”
The premise is richly layered with comedy and satire. But it is also full of meaty sub-themes that suggest fostering an environment of openness is not all it’s cracked up to be.
Ten years after leaving Edmonton for Toronto, playwright Nick Green premiers Happy Birthday Baby J as Shadow Theatre’s first production of the year. It officially opens at Varscona Theatre on Jan. 23.
“I think it’s going to have a lot of traction. It’s very topical and right on point, and it’s very funny,” said artistic director John Hudson. “It’s a little bit like a cross between Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and God of Carnage. It has that acerbic wit.”
It is J’s second birthday party and family and friends are invited. J’s playschool class was also invited, however none of the classmates’ parents RSVP their invitation.
“They’re not reacting to J. They’re reacting to the parents decision,” Hudson said.
When Gary and Louise opted for gender-open parenting, they could not have anticipated their child would be set up for exclusion.
“They thought they were trying to do the right thing. Clearly they are not the right people to do it.”
As the awkward birthday bash unfolds, grudges pop up, challenges and put-downs bubble to the surface, and the issue of political correctness hits its stride.
A graduate of the University of Alberta BFA acting program, Green is a prolific writer who has won a variety of awards including the Dora Maver Moore Award and Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards.
Here in the metropolitan region, he is best known for Coffee Dad, Chicken Mom, and the Fabulous Buddha Boi, a solo show about coming out.
Green has stated on several occasions that at its core, the play is about masculinity and patriarchy, and how everyone is forced to face the dominating power of masculinity.
Hudson views the 75-minute play from a different angle.
“It’s really about the decisions we make for our children that we have no right to make and the consequences from it,” he said.
Peopled with five characters, the play is headed by Gary (David Ley), the head of a university social work department, and his wife Louise (Chantal Perron), an oncology nurse.
The other three are Meghan (Patricia Cerra) a struggling professor unable to obtain tenure; Patrick (Mathew Hulshof), an oncology nurse; and Karomie (Cameron Grant), Patrick’s new lover.
Prior to the production of Happy Birthday Baby J, Hudson had briefly met Green more than a decade ago.
“I was aware of a good deal of his successes. I didn’t realize what a powerhouse playwright he is,” said Hudson, comparing him to contemporary playwrights Daniel MacIvor and Morris Panych.
“Happy Birthday Baby J is a super-smart play for adults. People will have a lot to talk about after the show while they’re drinking their wine.”
