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?
operaramblings 