MITF REVIEW: THE BABY MONITOR

The premise of The Baby Monitor, part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival, just drips with the juices of classic comedy: Two young couples, both new parents, overhear each others conversations on their respective baby monitors and begin to meddle in each others lives. Hilarity ensues. Sounds like the perfect premise for a light, frothy comedy along the lines of The Play's The Thing, or at least a really good I Love Lucy episode. After all, what's a better plot device than eavesdropping? Surefire laughs!

Sadly, Jude Albert's script falls frustratingly flat in almost every department. It's not that the play is really bad so much as devoid. Devoid of humor, of energy, and of genuine character development. What little character development exists is cliched at best, and far too sudden and tidy to be believed. The climax that could have redeemed the entire play is over too quickly and rather... well, anti-climactic. There are plenty of opportunities for great comedy in The Baby Monitor, but none of them really bloom. A flat comedy is sad enough, but it's doubly disappointing when such a clever premise fails to deliver the laughs it could.

The performances are fine for the most part, and Elyssa Phillips does stand out as the tough-talkin'-street-smart wife of the secondary couple. Director Marc-Anthony Thomas' work has no real panache or timing, which contributes significantly to the comedy's blandness.

In the end, The Baby Monitor has some smiles in it, but few real laughs.