Hypothetical Baby; written and performed by Rachel Cairns and directed by Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster for the Howland Company and currently playing at Tarragon Theatre, is about abortion… sort of.  It certainly centres on one woman’s abortion; Ms. Cairns’ in fact and the somewhat weird and tortuous processes involved in obtaining what is, after all, a medical procedure in Canadian law.  But it’s also about that loaded word “choice”.  I think I’ve been hearing the slogan “A woman’s right to choose” all my life and I’ve never dissented from it but I’ve never though very hard about what “choice” was being implied.  Rachel Cairns takes us there in all its complexity.  Because one possible choice is to bring another human being into a profoundly problematic world.  Can one afford to raise a child (because even in a rich country like Canada parents don’t get much help)?  What is the carbon footprint of an extra human?  What impact will it have on the lives of everyone concerned.  What if one is a lousy parent?

So back to the play.  it’s a series of vignettes; the doctor’s office, conversations with her mum and her boyfriend (who is pretty much paralysed essentially because he sees it as her “right to choose”), the abortion clinic, all the fun stages of early pregnancy and the aftermath of a medical abortion, making a living shining shoes because you are an actor and it’s that or wait tables.  Then there’s the shabby abortion clinic.  It’s a weird thing but Canadian medical facilities are decorated according to how much stigma the procedure attracts.  I used to work in cancer care.  25 years ago cancer was “your fault”.  Cancer centres were, mostly, dimly lit, institutional green painted spaces filled with sad and desperate people.  But the stigma reduced and now they are brightly lit, attractive places with floor to ceiling windows filled with sad and desperate people… but I digress.

There’s also a fair amount about how far we have come.  Rachel’s mum’s abortions were at a time when abortion was either outright illegal or legally dubious in Canada.  And it was far worse for earlier generations.  Rachel’s Pakistani friend reminds her that for most women outside a handful of progressive western countries (which of course doesn’t include the United Medieval States) things are as bad as they ever were.  Not that that helps of course.

So it’s ideas driven but it’s also theatre.  Does it work as such?  I think so.  The successive scenarios are brought off with bravura acting, the clever use of lighting and projections and skilful pacing to create a coherent whole.  But it’s still very much a conversation with the audience.  It’s personal and digressive and says at least as much about Rachel Cairns as it does about abortion or guaranteed minimum income.  And, if you choose to engage, it will tell you as much about you as her.  And if that’s not worth 75 minutes of your time, what is?

Hypothetical Baby continues at Tarragon Theatre until December 17th.

Photo credits: Dahlia Katz