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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

About a real baby onstage at the theatre

56 replies

Bluebellsagain · 02/07/2017 22:43

This weekend I saw a West End show with a cast that included a baby (looked to be 6-9
months old certainly no older.) It was on stage in two scenes and was a focal point of the action. Baby seemed very placid where needed, also cried where (apparently) the script required it. I was pretty surprised, never seen this before and not sure how I felt about it. The play was quite dark subject matter wise and also featured some children aged between about 5 and 10 who were onstage in the very disturbing end scene.

AIBU that it seems odd to put your young baby in for that?! He doesn't appear to have been multi-cast (unlike the other kids) so must do 6/7 shows a week!

OP posts:

Hekabe · 02/07/2017 23:08

No confusion about real life- they have a lot of training a rehearsal time for the play. Bright little things!

deckoff · 02/07/2017 23:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

munchkinmaster · 02/07/2017 23:15

But on tv they don't witness the traumatic thing as much as possible I think. They cut the shots in so that it looks like they are there but they are not. I remember all thecomplaints a few years ago about this not being done in a BBC drama where some young teen was being interogated and the shot was of the other actor and him I the frame. I think they were critised because of the shocking content of what the adult said and the fact it would have been easy to shoot both parts separately.

notanevilstepmother · 02/07/2017 23:16

Children know the difference between real and pretend fairly young as far as I know.

WomblingThree · 02/07/2017 23:22

dontbesillyhenry mine too. He would have been great in a horror film. His screaming was bloodcurdling!

Ceto · 02/07/2017 23:22

It could be a model at least at the point it is crying. I believe they use very realistic models in Call the Midwife, so it could be the same type.

TopangaD · 02/07/2017 23:23

The cry will be recorded and there will be several teams of children involved and rehearsed in. Also strict rules on what they are exposed to and hours worked. The makic of theatre that it seems real in the moment.

FrancisCrawford · 02/07/2017 23:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MeanAger · 02/07/2017 23:27

Oh! Thank you francis how nice of him to try and help.

Benedikte2 · 02/07/2017 23:32

Well J Swift was Irish himself

MeanAger · 02/07/2017 23:35

Did he have children? I mean was he a father? Rather than did he have children to eat.

user1495025590 · 02/07/2017 23:45

How do they make it cry on demand!?

or more to the point how do they stop it fromcrying at the wrong times!

OrlandaFuriosa · 02/07/2017 23:46

Mean, no he didn't. It's vicious satire aimed at the British Government and establishment, on behalf of the general population. It sounds as if, understandably, you might have misunderstood where he was coming from , which was to jolt them out of their smugness by proposing something horrific and outrageous.

MontyPythonsFlyingFuck · 02/07/2017 23:51

Which doesn't seem to have had any lasting effect, sadly, judging by the media performance of various Kensington & Chelsea councillors over tha last few days.

GreeboIsACutePussPuss · 03/07/2017 00:19

more to the point how do they stop it from crying at the wrong times!
There are a lot of parents who would pay good money for that trick.

My cousin was on stage from a very young age, before moving into TV and he said from what he remembers it was mostly bribery.

corythatwas · 03/07/2017 00:28

Also, I imagine actors would have to be prepared to improvise around a child that behaved the wrong way. It's the kind of thing actors are trained to do anyway.

And not only on stage: I read an interview with Jim Carter (Carson in Downton Abbey), where he claimed the original scene with baby Sibbie in the series 3 Christmas episode was meant to be a funny one about the childless old butler being a bit clueless about babies, but the baby got really upset at the start of the scene so he had to soothe her properly instead. It looks very sweet on film and completely as if it was part of the script.

MeanAger · 03/07/2017 00:30

It sounds as if, understandably, you might have misunderstood where he was coming from , which was to jolt them out of their smugness by proposing something horrific and outrageous.

I have indeed misunderstood! Thank you for explaining!

Quodlibet · 03/07/2017 00:32

When I saw The Ferryman the baby didn't cry on stage, at one point I think it was even asleep in the actor's arms. The actors probably have two different rehearsed reactions according to whether the baby is calm or crying on that entrance, so that neither disrupts the scene.

Usually with theatre shows with babies they will have a couple of babies who do the show for a few nights a week each. The baby's mother will obviously be in the dressing room. A friend (actor) had her baby in a west end show a few years ago and said it was a nice experience, actually.

TabascoToastie · 03/07/2017 00:35

My mate works on the show. There are four babies in the Ferryman, and all the crying is pre-recorded. The babies are treated amazingly well!

Btw the National Theatre's 'Consent' had a baby in it too (being carried in the opening scene) and is actually the playwright's own baby.

VestalVirgin · 03/07/2017 00:57

It sounds as if, understandably, you might have misunderstood where he was coming from , which was to jolt them out of their smugness by proposing something horrific and outrageous.

Always a problem with satire: In most cases, there are people who would actually suggest it.

I think his baby-eating proposal is the only one that hasn't been overtaken by reality at some point. (That is, I never read of someone seriously proposing to eat babies.)

All less extreme attempts of satire run the risk of it being really unclear whether it is meant seriously.

avamiah · 03/07/2017 00:58

This is Musical Theatre and these babies, kids are signed up to a casting agent and have had professional photos taken and probably been on a few casting calls before they land a part in the West End or a film/advert/tv series.
There is always at least 2 or more kids/babies cast for the same part depending on the stage time/rehearsals and length of performance etc and there are very strict rules to follow.

AlpacaPicnic · 03/07/2017 01:46

Danny Lloyd, who played Danny in The Shining, infamously had no idea that he was in a horror film as he was so young and they were so careful filming around him. When you think about it, a series of disjointed scenes with no context wouldn't seem like anything much!

avamiah · 03/07/2017 01:56

He was only 6 when he got the part.
He played a huge part .

RockyTop · 03/07/2017 07:18

There are very strict rules governing child actors both on stage and TV/film. I would expect the crying was pre-recorded, or the cast response differently depending on the baby's current mood.
I would have thought there are several different babies for the run, and it's likely they are linked to the cast or crew in some way, sibling of an older cast child whose parent is backstage etc.

WeyHay · 03/07/2017 10:23

I was pretty surprised, never seen this before and not sure how I felt about it.

Ummm, it's fiction: it's called "play" for a reason ...

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