Interview: BWW Award Nominee ANDRE BARRON Talks About Edward Albee's THE PLAY ABOUT THE BABY at the Road

By: Sep. 14, 2016
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

The Road Theatre on Magnolia is proud to present "the exclusive Los Angeles engagement" of Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby, which begins previews Tuesday September 13 and opens Friday, September 16.

Andre Barron will direct The Play About the Baby. Andre's direction of the critically acclaimed The Other Place at the Road garnered him a BWW Award nomination for Best Director of a Play (Local) in 2015. Barron shares his thoughts with us about Albee's message and the challenges of directing the play.

What makes Albee's play extra special from your perspective?

I am having an extraordinary time with my cast uncovering all the mysteries of Mr. Albee's incredible language. He has built quite a landscape of ideas and content for an audience to feast upon.

Tell us about the play.

The play is very dense... very funny and ultimately heartbreaking. The biggest mysteries of the play are there when the right questions are asked. Once that door has been opened you ask the next set of questions and another door appears. Every scene stands on the shoulder of the last scene. His voice is so distinct and certain. Almost summoning or challenging you to follow him through the trajectory of the story and step up to the plate. The play, I suspect, is somewhat autobiographical in nature. How does one find one's identity in this world? Mr. Albee was adopted as an infant and never knew his birth parents. The story centers around a mysterious older couple who come to "steal the baby" of a younger couple who are in love with a newborn.

Who is in the cast?

I have an amazing cast in Sam Anderson, Allison Blaize, Taylor Gilbert and Philip Orazio. They are all so gifted and very brave actors to tackle this subject matter.

What are your challenges?

I am hoping to be not only fair to every character but to find some redemption along the way. Like all good plays there are no clear villains or heroes. People can make terrible mistakes in life ...real wounds that lead to real scars.

What will audiences take away from The Play about the Baby?

Where is the healing and redemption in a psychic wound? Can we go back and right the wrong? How do we author and co-author each other's stories and why?

The Road on Magnolia is located at 10747 Magnolia Blvd inside the NoHo Senior Arts Colony. There is ample street parking. For performance schedule and tickets, go to:

//roadtheatre.secure.force.com/ticket/#sections_a031600001qMxH4AAK



Videos