A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE
Taking Care of Baby
Full-Length Play, Drama / 6w, 7m
Dennis Kelly
Taking Care of Baby
by Dennis Kelly
This tale of a mother accused and convicted of the deaths of her two young babies is a horrific yet powerful. By adopting a form commonly associated with verbatim theatre, the subject is imbued with a clarity that is at once both unrelenting and utte…
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Cast Size
6w, 7m -
Duration
More than 120 minutes (2 hours) -
Subgenre
Mystery/Thriller -
Target Audience
Adult
Details
Summary
This tale of a mother accused and convicted of the deaths of her two young babies is a horrific yet powerful. By adopting a form commonly associated with verbatim theatre, the subject is imbued with a clarity that is at once both unrelenting and utterly engaging, as it slowly emerges that these events are not truth at all, but Kelly masquerading theatrical illusion as truth. What unfolds is a bleak yet tender exploration of grief, exploitation, and the innate hypocrisies of reportage.
History
Taking Care of Baby premiered in New York City at Manhattan Theatre Club's New York City Center - Stage II space, in November of 2013, under the direction of Erica Schmidt.
Cast Attributes
- Time Period Contemporary, Present Day
- Setting Various simple settings
- Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes
- Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
- Cautions
- Intense Adult Themes
Media
"Taking Care of Baby," [is] a crafty little play... Mr. Kelly... deftly scrambles both our sympathies for, and our trust in, this play’s characters" - New York Times
"Those dying for a big dramatic disclosure of truth at the end of this dizzying ride may not get the satisfaction they came for, instead leaving in a frustrating yet wonderful state of confusion. As the reliability of Kelly's characters fall under suspicion one by one, we find that the truth may be forever buried among all of these contradictory stories. Or perhaps we can take solace in the fact that there may be no truth to find at all." - TheatreMania
"...excellent and engrossing… what makes the story of this mother, Donna McAuliffe..., so worthy of exploration is that it’s really not clear what happened… But what makes the play—by Dennis Kelly, who also wrote the book for Matilda—so impressive is that none of it is in fact true…" - New York Observer
"Dennis Kelly pulls off quite a feat in his smart, punchy Taking Care of Baby… Kelly keenly dissects the ethical corruption of various systems…" - Time Out New York
"Those dying for a big dramatic disclosure of truth at the end of this dizzying ride may not get the satisfaction they came for, instead leaving in a frustrating yet wonderful state of confusion. As the reliability of Kelly's characters fall under suspicion one by one, we find that the truth may be forever buried among all of these contradictory stories. Or perhaps we can take solace in the fact that there may be no truth to find at all." - TheatreMania
"...excellent and engrossing… what makes the story of this mother, Donna McAuliffe..., so worthy of exploration is that it’s really not clear what happened… But what makes the play—by Dennis Kelly, who also wrote the book for Matilda—so impressive is that none of it is in fact true…" - New York Observer
"Dennis Kelly pulls off quite a feat in his smart, punchy Taking Care of Baby… Kelly keenly dissects the ethical corruption of various systems…" - Time Out New York
Videos
60 Seconds with TAKING CARE OF BABY Playwright Dennis Kelly
Licensing & Materials
- Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.
Authors
