Portage Park’s Filament Theatre is trying a novel approach for their latest show: The audience is allowed — even encouraged — to howl, take over the stage, drool, snooze if they wish.
A couple of audience members on Wednesday even burped, prompting cooing from the actors.
To experience this spectacle for yourself, you need to be of an age at which walking is still a future aspiration — or be the carer of someone at that stage of life.
“This space was created specifically for you and your baby. This is not a place where you need to worry about your baby crying or things like that,” said Ellie Levine, the director of “RAIN: for babies and their carers.”
RAIN, which runs through Jan. 18, had a final preview Wednesday. This reporter tried to attend a rehearsal a few days earlier, but none of the babies showed (making a variety of excuses).
And the show doesn’t work without babies, who instantly steal the limelight.
“All of the focus should be on the babies. I‘ve told our cast that there is nothing in the performance that is more important than the babies having a safe and enjoyable time,” Levine said. “If during the performance part, a baby crawls out and wants to sit next to the performer, great. That’s totally fine.”
The show — which originated with Australia’s Threshold theater — is part art installation, part performance and 100% adorable. The show is intended for a maximum of 10 babies (and their adult companions, or “carers” as they say in Australia). Before the show begins, the babies and their carers are ushered into a “transition” space that has soft strands of fabric dangling from the ceiling and a soundtrack of pitter-pattering rain.
The stage is covered with what looks like a giant, circular baby blanket, on which the actors, Ariya Hawkins and Alexandra Plattos Sulack, and cellist Sonia Goldberg perform rain-themed songs. Mosquito nets filled with bundles of tulle fabric that hang from the ceiling are intended to replicate giant raindrops, but made me think of a gift from the stork. The babies and their carers sit around the stage.
The real fun begins when the actors invite the babies to come into the middle of the blanket, where all the traditional audience protocol is abandoned. Babies drooled, stuffed their fists in their mouths, picked their noses, played with other babies.
The show has been running in Australia for about 10 years. Last year, several folks with the Filament production, including Levine, traveled to Melbourne to see it.
“They’ve had babies take their first steps during the show. They’ve had babies fall asleep of course,” Levine said. “A piece of wisdom that they shared with us is that all of these things are totally fine.”
Though Filament caters to young audiences, this is the company’s first show specifically for babies.
And it came as a much-needed relief for several of the sleep-deprived new moms who showed up Wednesday.
“When you’ve just had a baby, it can be a very isolating time, where you feel very lonely and not connected to the community,” Levine said.
First-time parents Julia Kessler and Brian Bradford of Logan Square were at the performance with their daughter Margaretta, only 7 weeks old.
“I was so excited to see this,” said Kessler. “I was flabbergasted to hear there was something available for someone her age. … There’s such a need for it.”
And the actors don’t appear to mind being upstaged.
“It’s the world’s most heart-warming gig, for sure,” Hawkins said. “It’s really special to be able to come in here, knowing that we are helping to facilitate the calm and rest and also positive bonding time that these families need and deserve, especially when everything moves so fast in our day to day.”
For tickets, go to filamenttheatre.org.
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