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Regional Reviews: St. Louis A Kid Like Jake Also see Richard's review of A Midsummer Night's Dream
Maybe that's the point of finding the "best" daycare, and the "best" pre-school, and the "best" elementary school before a little boy or girl can even ride a bike: to save the kids from our own ruined (aka "grown-up") fates. And that's pretty much what seems to be happening here. There's all kind of quiet misery spent on (the unseen) Jake, a four year-old boy who loves Cinderella and Ariel and Rapunzel, and now and then costumes them or dresses up like them. Or even creates bloody drawings that shock the grown-ups. "How will the other kids and teachers treat him," the sleek, introspective and articulate parents worry—till their own potentially damaging influence is put under the microscope as well. "First World problems," indeed. But it's fair to young parents in the audience—it doesn't mock already-beleaguered moms and dads—it's just that, in the natural formulation of drama, the worriers-in-chief must eventually try on some blame themselves for size. Everyone on stage seems perfectly intelligent and aware of the irony of the situation (trying to produce a happy child from fraught parents), but they get sucked up in it even so. And yet there's also a lot of fresh modern humor and romance: enough to make this one worth calling the babysitter for. Seth Gordon directs this four-person show, tailoring anguished or bickering little moments into a dozen or more minor masterpieces among his actors. Leigh Williams (as the young mom) carries most of the weight of it all on her own back, but somehow manages the burden lightly and spontaneously, in spite of the fact that she tells virtually the whole story herself, viscerally and intensely. Alex Hanna, as her psychologist-husband, measures out pain and exasperation that's usually an inch wide and a mile deep, till the final explosions at the end. And Susan Pellegrino, as an "enrollment broker," is wise and stunningly natural throughout, guiding the couple through a myriad of exclusive schools' application processes. Jacqueline Thompson (as an OB-GYN nurse) grounds the play in kindly relief. But she also has a kind of dream-sequence that strangely satisfies our continuing interest in magical realism. Winner of the 2013 Laurents-Hatcher award, Daniel Pearle's play continues through November 16, 2014, at the studio theater of the Loretto-Hilton building, 130 Edgar Rd., on the campus of Webster University. For more information visit www.repstl.org. The Players (in speaking order) Crew
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