For some, the innate need to become a parent creates a drive that is easily satisfied by Mother Nature: a man and a woman meet, they usually fall in love and a baby comes along not after. For others, the same innate need exists but becomes a little more difficult to satiate.
The obstacles they encounter to parenthood are sometimes logistical and often biological. And yet, it’s amazing the lengths people will go to in order to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way.
In The Baby Dance, Rachel and Richard represent the hundreds of thousands of couples whose desire for parenthood pushes them to extreme measures for the title of mom and dad. For Rachel and Richard, the desire drives them across the country, and the power play begins.
For Al and Wanda, the desperation is just as palpable but takes on a different form. Having next to nothing, the only commodity they have to exchange is their unborn baby.
While Jane Anderson’s drama takes place in 1991, the questions it raises are still just as relevant and muddy as they were 25 years ago: Where does one begin when assigning a monetary value to a human life? How does one control the situation when they have no real control? What does one do when they don’t feel as though they got what they paid for? …How can you even begin to ask yourself these questions?
Gavin Mayer
Director, The Baby Dance
