‘The Baby Dance’ challenges audience> Winterport production raises tough questions about class struggles, right and wrong

A woman’s uterus and the life within it have been some of the most controversial and political subjects in the second half of this century. Perhaps one of the most challenging questions in regard to these subjects is: Should the fruit of a woman’s womb be a marketable item? And its companion question: On what moral ground do the sellers and the buyers stand?

These questions are the backbone of Jane Anderson’s two-act play “The Baby Dance,” which Winterport Open Stage performed this past weekend and will run again Friday and Saturday at the Wagner Middle School in Winterport.

Director Reed Farrar chose to produce this play because it is in keeping with his artistic goals to push an audience past complacency. “It’s a modern drama that doesn’t have any easy answers, but raises some interesting questions,” he writes in program notes. Ultimately, “The Baby Dance” gives a window through which to see class struggles, moral dilemmas and the irrepressible connection we all have to one another.

The play opens in Louisiana in the cramped trailer of Al and Wanda, a poor-white-trash couple who are expecting their fifth child. Their phone has been disconnected, their children have been farmed out to grandparents, and they are frustrated with excessive poverty and fertility. When Wanda reads a personal ad in which a happily married, financially secure couple is seeking a baby, she sees a chance to offer her unborn child a good life, and contacts the advertisers.

But it’s not so easy as buying a loaf of bread. Wanda is a feeling woman; Al is a conniving man; the Leibermans are a desperate and discriminating couple. The confluence of their problems and the unpredictable nature of life corrals them all into a reeling dance that brings them to their knees.

This play is not uplifting. It’s not the type of theater that leaves you with a sense of joyous transcendence. Rather, it brings to light some important modern circumstances that are acutely worthy of consideration, and Anderson presents them with both poignancy and humor.

In his direction, Farrar has chosen to go with as much comedy as he can possibly get onto the stage, and his choice is understandable considering the themes this play takes on. At times, however, he underscores the tension with sappy music, which does more in the way of trivialization than it does in the way of relief.

Of particular note in this five-member cast of community actors are Raeanne Lynn Bates and Greg Lincoln, as Wanda and Al. Their roles would be easy to overdo, but they move naturally and believably through their lines. These are characters who struggle with their lots in life, but who ultimately know right from wrong, and Bates and Lincoln make the roles sympathetic despite their flaws.

Erica Farrar and Preston Bjorn, as the Leibermans, each have moments that work, but they are never quite as interesting as their trailer-park counterparts. Farrar could easily be more uptight and controlling, and Bjorn could be more forceful. But both actors are competent in their performances.

Kevin DeBeck plays the lawyer who negotiates the deal, and does a fine job. Again, there’s no ostentation here, just straightforward — and often amusing — acting.

The sets are realistic and the staging, which is nearly in the round, is particularly user-friendly for the audience. If you’re not interested in being right in the actors’ faces during emotional scenes, however, don’t sit in the first rows because sometimes the performers are as close as a foot away from the audience. And another tip: Note the starting time is 7:30 p.m.

“The Baby Dance” will be presented 7:30 p.m. March 1 and 2 at Wagner Middle School in Winterport. For information, call 223-2501.