Review: BABEL at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival--A Play Unstuck In Time

The passage of time can do strange things to a play; not only can the plot be overtaken by events, the meaning of its language can shift radically, and with that meaning its reception.

Plays about pregnancy, and about choice, are a case-in-point: Jacqueline Goldfinger's "Babel" was written in, and for, a different time and a different nation. Although designed as a comedy, watching its action unfold in the Marinoff Theatre at this year's Contemporary American Theatre Festival, in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, it's striking how the end of Roe vs. Wade, and the already-engaged battle over women's bodies nationwide, can force an entirely different reckoning from the audience.

Set in a dystopian near-future, "Babel" presents us with a society obsessed with perfection; scientific metrics rule over every decision, including (and especially) whether to carry a baby to term. When a first-trimester analysis of Renee and Dani's baby shows, statistically, a behavioral glitch in its DNA, the couple is strongly advised to abort-with the threat that if they don't, the child will be shunted off to a separate 'village' and denied the rights they themselves have taken for granted.

As Renee, the mother-to-be, Karen Li absolutely shines; her determination, her moments, of doubt, her struggles to deal with the powers-that-be, as well as having to cope with an avatar-stork which constantly intrudes on her thinking, creates a panoply of acting challenges which she manages with ease. Her partner, the all-controlling Dani, is given a sharp edge indeed by Kate MacCluggage, whose tall frame is domineering enough, enhanced by costume designer Yao Chen's immaculate, white business suit.

The other, seemingly normal couple squaring off with Dani and Renee are played to a fever pitch by Lori Vega (as the high-pitched, high-strung Ann) and Carlo Alban (whose turn as Jamie succeeds in ripping down the façade of scientific certainty that underpins the play). Both couples begin the play expectant, but Renee knows her baby will not be 'certified.' Ann, meanwhile, has the usual maternal anxieties deepened exponentially by the worry that one false move, one poorly-executed breathing exercise could condemn her baby to being un-certifiable.

Goldfinger doesn't hesitate to skewer the aura of scientific certainty that plagues the world of the play; the Enlightenment 'nature vs. nurture' debate, now on steroids, the scientific basis for baby-certification is revealed to be, now only fraudulent, but riddled with contradictions.

Director Sharifa Yasmin has added some fascinating choreographic touches, announcing the shift between scenes with geometric, semi-robotic moves for the cast, including sequences running up and down a spiral staircase on Jesse Dreikosen's finely-appointed, spare, wood-toned set (the spiral, of course, being a visual pun on the double-helix at the heart of the play). And David Remedios' sound mix creates an appropriate, futuristic mood that adds to the show's ominous feel.

The production itself is sleek and well done, although Goldfinger's cryptic way of handling speculative fiction leaves a few holes in the narrative; the "Babel" of the title could be the biblical tale, but these days it's a stretch to assume biblical literacy with audiences; and with a lack of literacy comes an inability to connect the dots and appreciate the point she's trying to make. A few more words here and there should help the sense of the piece immensely.

At this point, I need to draw the reader's attention to the ideals at stake, because an evening spent with "Babel" should leave you pondering quite a lot indeed.

At the heart of the plot is a referendum which empowered the government to 'certify' babies as genetically superior and acceptable, relegating those 'less than superior' to segregated, subservient roles in society. A referendum, in this case, that women openly advocated-Dani included. (We're not talking about men taking women's rights away, in other words; the women are doing it to themselves, and each other.) Dani's fury at realizing she voted for her and Renee's baby's de-certification tells, but reminds us that the self-anointed, self-righteous can easily be hoist on their own petard.

As Goldfinger herself has pointed out, it's one thing to advocate for a policy, but it's another thing when that policy suddenly affects your own life. Assumptions about your own worthiness, about your own privilege, fly out the window and you can be confronted by the brutal consequences of that grand, idealistic cause. "Your privilege is constructed" is one of the more haunting lines from the play, reminding us of the artificial nature of much of what we take for granted.

Then there is the way that taking rights for granted can come back to bite you, big-time. In the middle of a conversation about the (fictional) referendum, one of the characters says "I completely believe in a woman's right to choose; the choice to make was settled long ago." What once was intended as a simple statement of fact, expositional filler if you will, now elicits laughter of a most rueful and ironic kind from the audience. These words should, to my mind, remain in the play because it reminds us, meta-theatrically, how little we know about our own times, let alone our own immediate future.

By all means, check out "Babel" in its current incarnation. Use it to look in the mirror, you might be surprised by what you see.

Production Photo: Carlo Alban (as a virtual-reality Stork) and Karen Li (as Renee) in the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of Babel by Jacqueline Goldfinger

Running Time: 100 minutes without Intermission.

Babel runs as a part of the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, through July 31 in the Marinoff Theatre at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

For tickets visit https://catf.org/buy-tickets/ . You can also email the box office at boxoffice@catf.org or call them at 681-240-2283.

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