Allegheny’s Playshop Theatre Presents ‘Baby With the Bathwater’

Allegheny’s Playshop Theatre will close out its 2016-17 season with “Baby With the Bathwater” from April 20-23 in the Gladys Mullenix Black Theatre in the Vukovich Center for Communication Arts. Performances are at 8 p.m. April 21-22, and at 2:30 p.m. on April 23.

“Baby with the Bathwater” was written by Christopher Durang in 1983 and depicts an extreme and hilarious take of bad parenting. In a review of the play, Frank Rich of the New York Times writes, “a playwright who shares Swift’s bleak view of humanity, Durang conquers bitterness and finds a way to turn rage into comedy that is redemptive as well as funny.”

Director Dan Crozier of Allegheny’s Communication Arts/Theatre Department is aided by stage manager Itzel Ayala and assistant stage managers Matt Lis and Cayla Brandon. Michael Mehler is the scenic designer, and Miriam Peterson designed the costumes.

The play is a counterpoint to Playshop’s previous production “Luna Gale,” which centered around problems of parenting as well, but with a serious plot and tone. The teenage family of “Luna Gale” dealt with drug addiction and a social worker’s involvement in their case, while the family in “Baby with the Bathwater” struggles humorously with the name and gender of their child, and the subsequent emotional and gender confusion of the child as he grows up.

This is the final show in the Playshop Theatre’s 87th season. The cast features Liz Colarte as Helen, the mother, and Daniel Keitel as John, the father, as well as Emily Wilson, Jen Ray, Megan Greig, Chloe Spadafora, Johanna Stanley, Mary Lyon, Mark Shimkets, Elijah Prince, and Emma Woodhead.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for non-Allegheny students, senior citizens, and Allegheny employees. Admission is free for Allegheny students with identification, but they are asked to make reservations.

For more information or to order tickets, contact the Playshop Theatre box office at (814) 322-3414.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research