Venues
Events
VideoTheater
Smudge: A Thing of Beauty
| | More
What would you do if you gave birth to a Smudge? That’s the million-dollar question in Rachel Axler’s play by the same name. The Women’s Project isn’t afraid to answer it—and you shouldn’t be either.
The idea for the play itself came out of what Axler says is the “the most horrible thought” she’s ever had. A chance encounter with a woman in an electric wheelchair sparked Axler’s sentiment that no one could possibly love someone who, like the woman, was missing most of their body. The playwright concedes that it was a “horrible and unjust snap judgment,” but the image remained. According to Axler, something that inspired this thought was “probably a good topic for a play.”
This world premiere production tells the story of Colby (Cassie Beck) and Nick (Greg Keller), a young couple who welcome an incredibly deformed baby, or “Smudge,” into their world. They struggle to love their child or, at the very least, treat it as normal, while dealing with the responsibilities that they already have. It’s understandable that they must struggle to love the baby; it is represented by an imposing electrical stroller with tubes for bodily fluids looping around it in every possible manner. The result is something truly terrifying, as well as one of the best props you’ll see on Off-Broadway all season.
Keller plays Nick with extreme clarity and believability. Beck’s Colby is a woman who fears the child she can’t bond with, but she never resorts to insanity, making her humanity beautiful and all too clear. Neither actor resorts to being a foil to the other because they both turn in layered performances that have love at their core. Brian Sgambati’s undeniable presence as Nick’s brother Pete is a welcome breath of fresh air, all the more appropriate as he serves as Nick and Colby’s link to the outside world.
Smudge is billed as a dark comedy, and there are indeed laughs. However, humor is not what the audience member will take with them. The play’s moments of humor only relieve the realization that human life takes many forms, some of them easier to love than others, and some simply passed over and ignored like little Smudges. If I hadn’t thought about such a world (and word) before, I definitely am now.
Smudge runs until February 7 at the Julia Miles Theater, 424 West 55th Street (just west of 9th Avenue) New York City. For tickets and more information, visit www.womensproject.org or call (212) 239-6200.