What happens when the birth of your first child isn’t all that you thought it would be? What happens when all the inspirational quotes your friends and family have been pumping you up with all fall flat in the face of strange and dark circumstances?
Smudge is a controversial dark comedy about Nick and Colby; a couple expecting a perfect baby complete their picture perfect lives. But when the baby arrives it’s severely disfigured and deformed, sending Colby into a spiral of denial and leaving Nick alone in his own deluded thoughts.
“The play sets the modern family in a place that many will not tread,” explained director Stephen Lloyd-Coombs. “Those of us raised on Disney believe in happy endings until we grow up and realise life is not that simple. It is neither black nor white; just a constant grey. This is the essence of Smudge.”
Smudge divided audiences when it was first staged in the US in 2010, winning critical acclaim while also drawing criticism from various groups over its representation of disability.
The mind of Emmy Award-winning writer Rachel Axler (The Daily Show, Parks & Recreation, Veep) has brought us this imaginative script that throws away pre-conceived ideas of parenthood and asks the question: if something isn’t normal, does that make it unwanted?
With just three actors on stage, independent theatre company The King’s Fools bring this daring production to the intimate Kings Cross Theatre. (AM)
May 31–Jun 11, Tues-Sat 8pm, Sun 4.30pm. Kings Cross Theatre, Level 2, Kings Cross Hotel, 244-248 William St, Kings Cross. $22-$28. Tickets & info: trybooking.com/LJFI
