Review: Next Door’s Baby, Theatre at the Tabard

Review: Next Door’s Baby, Theatre at the Tabard

Summary

Rating

60

Good

Good work from the entire ensemble makes this a fun, high energy and amusing night out.

Living next door to each other are the haves, the Hennessy’s, and the have-nots, the O’Briens, but they have a lot more in common than they would ever be prepared to admit. Each household has a young baby, and each harbour dark secrets. This is 1950s Ireland, a country enthralled to the Catholic church and with a level of oppression, particularly against young women, where any hint of a scandal would bring shame and ostracisation.

Initially Mrs Hennesy (Abigail Williams) and Mrs O’Brien (Jackie Pulford) enter the babies in a Bonny Baby competition, in no small part to try and put one over on the other. The bickering and sly comedy here is funny, and the two excel throughout, none more so than in their sung duel as they post entry forms in the mail. The premise seems to be set for some comedy about the competition between the two women through their babies, but this fades out rather quickly. Instead, Next Door’s Baby becomes a musical about the way that people are trapped, by themselves, their families and society’s expectations. Moments about lost or abandoned dreams are strong, but overall, focus wanders considerably. There are several story threads that do not really receive enough attention, while the songs feel mostly functional, at times even getting in the way of the story being told and the family dynamics.

The staging is simple and effective, a kitchen for each house, with the O’Brien’s transforming into a church and even just a small bench. The lighting seems somewhat off though. It is overly bright and harsh and out of sync throughout, coming on both in advance of cast movement and also having to catch up at other times.

The cast are uniformly good, bringing out a lot of fun with high energy and enthusiasm radiating outwards. A number of Irish performers within in the cast help smooth out occasional accent issues; Shaylyn Gibson’s very broad nasally version of a Dublin accent fades away as her singing takes more centre stage, much to the benefit for her performance. As Orla’s (Amber Deasy) secret is revealed – although the reveal is overly telegraphed and predictable – she gets a lot more to do in the second half and carries a substantial piece of the emotional core through both her singing and acting. Eldest brother, and man of the house, Dickie (Ben Hannigan) sees his story similarly develop through the second half, where he delivers an excellent singing performance, particularly when leading on “The Glory of Kilburn”. Sheila’s (Hayley-Jo Murphy) devotion to the church with a sweet naivety brings a lot of laughs, and as an Irish Dance World Champion, she has quite a moment to show her skills late on.   

A reprise of the strongest, and only memorable, song “The Glory of Kilburn” ends with high octane, the bodhrán (Irish drum) hanging on the wall finally gets taken down and put to good use. A big song and dance from the full ensemble leaves us with the feeling of a warm party and a good, fun, night out.

---

Music and lyrics by: Matthew Strachan
Book by: Bernie Gaughan
Directed by: Keith Strachan
Musical Direction by: Beth Jerem
Set Design by: Hazel Owen
Costume Design by: Alice McNicholas
Choreography by: Hayley-Jo Murphy
Produced by: Simon and Sarah Reilly for Take Note Theatre at the Tabard

Next Door’s Baby plays at Theatre at the Tabard until 27 May. Further information and bookings can be found here.