Theatre review: Unexpecting, an audio play, explores female relationships amid the messiness of modern life
Bronwyn Carradine’s work is part of the Arts Club Theatre Company’s new Listen to This Series
Writer Bronwyn Carradine.
Unexpecting is available for listening online until September 15 via the Arts Club.
UNEXPECTING’S JOSEPHINE AND Annie are living a life that, on one or more levels, a lot of Vancouverites might be able to relate to: Jo works at an art gallery and Annie is a writer. Married, they both end up losing their jobs; as they’re already essentially relying on their line of credit to get by, their finances look bleak. In an attempt to get pregnant, Annie goes through IVF, a process that leaves her too worn out, physically and mentally, to contemplate another round. A full five years have gone by on a waiting list for adoption.
The stress and uncertainty of their circumstances leave each of them each questioning what it’s all about and what they really want.
Then they get a call that changes everything: a woman who’s about to give birth has narrowed down her selection of a family for her child to two couples, one of them being Annie and “Jo”.
Unexpecting is an audio play by Vancouver-based writer and theatre creator Bronwyn Carradine produced by the Arts Club Theatre Company. It’s one of four world premieres in the digital format by Western Canadian playwrights that the company is creating as part of its new Listen to This series. The works are all written by artists affiliated with the company’s Emerging Playwrights’ Unit and Silver Commissions Project and are directed by the Arts Club’s artistic director Ashlie Corcoran. (Look for the other Listen to This releases in the coming months.)
A Studio 58 grad, Carradine has had work produced, performed, and developed by Zee Zee Theatre, Intrepid Theatre, and Rumble Theatre, among others; she currently has plays in development with Green Thumb Theatre and Babelle Theatre, where she is writer-in-residence. Originally written for the stage, Unexpecting was developed during Carradine’s time with the Arts Club’s inaugural Emerging Playwrights’ Unit residency program in 2019.
Unexpecting is a mostly delightful story of female friendships and relationships amid all the messiness of modern-day life. With humour, warmth, and fast-moving dialogue, the script makes it clear that Carradine is one to watch.
There are pain points. The play opens with a discussion of a certain painting; that the large canvas features a vulva feels cliched. The characters’ use of the word “babe” (and, less often, “babes” or “bitch”) quickly becomes tiresome, and Pam, Annie’s wealthy, successful L.A.-based writer friend is even more so with her brusqueness and cringe-y “businesswoman” phone voice.
The storyline is not all that convincing when Annie and Jo leave Sawyer—who has dropped in unexpectedly to get to know them better, on the verge of going into labour—alone in their living room with annoying but well-intentioned Pam.
What makes the script work, however, is that the characters are so relatable; Annie and Jo seem so real and likeable you wish you could pop in for a visit with them over a cup of jasmine tea. AJ Simmons stands out in the role of Annie with her vulnerability, self-doubt, self-confidence, and kind-heartedness. As Sawyer, Elizabeth Barrett plays it perfectly, evoking a young woman with great worries and even greater wisdom.
Murray Price deserves recognition for sound and music design. An audio play demands that this integral element be apt and precise—even more so than in a stage production, as there’s nothing else to distract us if things aren’t quite right or go off the rails. He nails it with his song and sound picks and overall execution.
Unexpecting clocks in at just over an hour and 40 minutes; the beauty of the format is you can listen to it any time of day, ideally under a blanket with a cat on your lap. If you're the sort to read program notes, we recommend not looking at the cast members’ head shots before listening so you can create what the characters might look like in your own head, akin to reading a book before it becomes a movie.
Related Articles
