What If They Ate The Baby? – Soho Theatre, London

Creators: Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland

This production invites the audience to enter an absurd, dreamlike vision of 1950s America. What If They Ate The Baby? Centres on the daily routines and the underlying love affair between two housewives, showcasing the talent, energy and sharp insight of queer writer-performers Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland.

The story unfolds in a domestic setting, where a long dining table takes centre stage on a black-and-white checkerboard floor with a red tilted window. This bold visual aesthetic is consistent with the costumes. Dottie (by Rice) and Shirley (by Roland) wear pink and yellow lace-trimmed dresses respectively, and their cheeks and noses are marked with red dots reminding the audience of clowns. Initially, their conversation suggests a simple neighbourly exchange: Dottie comes to Shirley’s home to return a dish. However, as their dialogue unfolds, their exaggerated tones, synchronised physicality and heightened facial expressions indicate something more intimate. When the lighting and music shift, a deeper narrative emerges, revealing their concealed lesbian relationship.

The structure of the piece revolves around cyclical conversations and physical movement, starting from discussions about the dish and baking to the ominous knock from downstairs and escalating tensions in the neighbourhood. Finally, all culminate in conflict and confession. Yet, these repetitions never feel boring as each cycle builds in intensity, gradually peeling layers of uncertainty, vulnerability and desire. Interestingly, the entire play can also be viewed through the lens of food, with references to green spaghetti, overflowing milk and bodies as conveyors of desire.

Roland and Rice masterfully use their physicality. They adeptly interweave conversations into bodily movements, seamlessly blending dance and movements to convey their characters’ internal chaos. Meanwhile, the transitions between mundane everyday life and feverish paranoia are amplified by Angelo Sagnelli’s striking lighting design. Sagnelli’s use of focused light on the face evokes the chilling effect of a cinematic close-up.

This production is sharp and tightly constructed with wit. While the neighbourhood events could benefit from further elaboration, the performance itself is almost flawless.

Runs until 28 March 2025