Babyteeth

Babyteeth
By Rita Kalnejais, State Theatre Company of SA. Aug 16 – Sep 7, 2013

Babyteeth was a 2010 work commissioned by Belvoir and young Australian playwright Rita Kalnejais’ work ran to mixed reviews. The play, about a young teenage girl with terminal cancer, is now being staged in Adelaide under the direction of Brink Productions’ artistic director, Chris Drummond.

A soap opera of sorts with many funny moments, the play has a certain filmic quality, so it’s easy to understand why it is currently in development for a feature movie. The diminutive Danielle Catanzariti as 14-year-old cancer victim Milla leads a strong ensemble cast that includes veteran actor Paul Blackwell as her violin teacher. Some of the characters, however, don’t seem to be explained fully and it wasn’t until it dawned on me that Milla doesn’t have long to live that I understood why her parents seemed to be encouraging their young daughter to have a sexual relationship with a junkie almost twice her age.

Throughout there are some genuinely moving moments which even brought a tear to the eye of even this hardened critic although these are offset by a fair deal of humour. For example, Toby, the neighbour, has a dog with the same name as Milla’s father, Henry, and can often be heard calling out the name which causes some titters.

Wendy Todd’s clever set design is a series of wooden slats that are easily moved to depict the kitchen of the family home, a railway station and the violin teacher’s apartment, while the lighting (by Geoff Cobham) sometimes gives the work an eerie feeling.

The play has some faults in that it is, perhaps, overly long and occasionally drawn out – an incident on opening night when a audience member took ill and the play had to be stopped mid-scene and the auditorium cleared for some 30 minutes or so certainly did not help – but overall it’s a play well worth a visit as it’s a powerful story of a family trying to cope with the inevitable that features good direction and acting.

Robert Dunstan

Images:

Chris Pitman and Claire Jones.

Danielle Catanzariti  and Matt Crook

Photographer: Shane Reid.

Subscribe to our E-Newsletter, buy our latest print edition or find a Performing Arts book at Book Nook.