The Kick & Push Festival – Beta’s Baby
The first glimpse that Kingston got of Beta’s Baby came one year ago, when creators Vanessa Smythe, Mitchell Cushman, and Nick Bottomley from the Toronto-based theatre company Outside the March held a free workshop as a part of the 2017 Kick & Push Festival. The goal was to devise an immersive theatre experience that paid homage to VHS rental stores. Smythe describes the show as a “love letter to the VHS era,” saying that they were drawn towards the storytelling potential of the tapes. “What did these VHS tapes witness themselves? Like, can we tell the story of a relationship in 6 movie rentals, or can a series of tapes take you on a path that helps you encounter something you didn’t know you needed?”
This weekend, in an empty storefront on Princess Street, Outside the March has returned to offer audiences an incredibly unique theatre experience. All theatrical conventions are thrown out the window the moment you step into the store—audience members are encouraged to wander around, talk, and interact. In fact, the experience is enhanced the more curious you are. At the start of the piece, one of the store’s clerks (played by local Kingston performers) talks to you and then chooses which of the four available “tracks” you’ll be on. From there, you are led around the store by a series of clues, and uncover a story along the way. There are some mind-blowing moments of theatre magic, coupled with very honest interactions between the clerks.
After each individual audience member completes their track, a very different kind of performance begins—two of the store’s clerks (played by Katie Gorham and Kat Dionne) lead the audience around the store as they sing along to movie soundtracks, and a romance begins to unravel between the two of them. Described as a “cherry on top” of the Beta’s Baby experience, this musical performance may seem disconnected from the rest of the show, but it is intended to bring the audience together in a moment of shared attention. Smythe says that they hope to couple the unique, intimate experience of the tracks with something that will “connect these strangers in a collective experience.”
Although Beta’s Baby has come a long way in terms of development since last year, it is still an ongoing experiment. Audience members are invited to complete a survey in order to provide feedback that the creators can use to develop the show further. After their Kingston run, Smythe, Cushman, and Bottomley are looking towards a full production of Beta’s Baby that will include even more tracks. But for now, I encourage Kingstonians to check out the performance—for only $10 you can not only take part in this one-of-a-kind experience, but also have a say in its further development.