Writer: Jessica Hagan
Director: Anastasia Osei-Kuffour
Brenda’s Got a Baby is a pantomime of motherhood and fertility. Always going at full throttle, it never stops to consider the humanity behind these themes.
Ama (Anita-Joy Uwajeh), heartbroken to the point of dissociation after the abrupt ending of her eight-year relationship, suddenly realises that she has, in fact, always wanted a baby, even though she has spent the past 20 minutes belittling people who have them already. Battling against some old-fashioned opinions about artificial insemination that are never truly challenged, she barrels headfirst into her sudden dream of having a child by her 30th birthday.
Playwright Jessica Hagan delves deep into the well-trodden territory of comparison culture, a theme that strikes a chord with anyone questioning the trajectory of their own life. But the script takes a long time to get there, not reaching the crux of it until deep into the first half. Scenes seem to meander after each other, picking up where the last one left off clunkily and without consideration for the overall narrative. It is hard to tell what this play wants to be, whether it is an old-fashioned kitchen sink drama or a rabid caricature of a societal plague.
After the interval, a different, more manic play begins. An ominous countdown to Ama’s 30th plays overhead and her breakdown decision-making escalates. Unfortunately, Uwajeh’s performance starts at its peak, cartoonish hand waving, jokes screamed and over-emphasised and always half an eye on the audience. This leaves Ama with nowhere to go. When the stress of familial pressure and a ticking clock intensifies, Ama is already in a fit of pantomime panic.
A similar fate befalls the rest of the cast, who attempt to counteract their underwritten characters by giving everything, all the time. Edward Kagutuzi, who plays Skippy has some of the biggest laughs in the show and is genuinely touching at times but even his brand of class-clown humour doesn’t help to counteract the unmistakable sense that this very adult show was somehow accidentally directed towards children. With a colourful jigsaw piece set (TK Hay) and moralistic, surface-level characterisation, if there weren’t so much swearing and sexual references, you could easily bring your child to learn a thing or two about the pressures of motherhood.
Beneath the rambling chaos lie pertinent issues – the scarcity of Black sperm donors and a healthcare system not designed for Black women– yet these topics are fleetingly acknowledged before being brushed aside.
Brenda’s Got a Baby struggles with its own identity, oscillating uncomfortably between psychodrama and knee-slapping comedy.
Runs until 2 December 2023
