Ruth Baines in "SWF... obo"

SWF... obo
Ruthable Creations, Vancouver
Friday and Saturday
Venue 2, Broadway Theatre

By Patrick Cabel
of The Star Phoenix

Poor Ruth Baines'. A single woman in a world where the only way to be someone is by having someone else. Baines is incapable of meeting a member of the opposite sex for any kind of meaningful relationship. She has left any hope of meaningful companionship in the hands of friends who invite her to parties guaranteeing she won't be the only single person there. In her words, "over 30, single and female just does not equate.

These are the problems that Baines tackles in "SWF... obo" a kind of thinking aloud monologue and dance creation she wrote herself.

Baines isn't asking for much in a male mind you. All she wants is a man who doesn't lose his charm five minutes after they meet. A man who has a job (some way to get him off the couch for 20 hours each week), a man who has been out of a relationship for two years and a man who has dreams, even ones that are unachievable.

But the problems don't stop at the lack of quality men available to Baines. The whole dating system - the "rules" - are filled with poetntial booby traps and land mines. When do you kiss? How long should you wait before returning a phone call? When do you "open up" - and how much should you reveal? How do you dress and smell? When should he meet your parents? And most importantly, when should you say the L-word - "the death toll for most relationship."

At first glance it would appear that Baines has alienated half her potential audience. After all, how many guys would want to sit and listen to a female catalogue the seemingly endless list of male shortcomings? But Baines levels out the "where have all the good men gone" portion of her play with equally humorous self-criticism. Maybe she watches too much daytime television. maybe she knows too many people in relationships. Maybe the problem is her lesbian sister.

As the only performer in SWF, it is crucial that Baines keep the dialogue moving, since there is no one to rescue her should the audience become bored. She accomplishes this with the discourse: unfortunately, the dance element of the performance doesn't live up to the standard set by the dialogue. At first, the dance is intriguing and serves as a way for Baines to non-verbally communicate her frustration with relationships; towards the end of the play it seems like she has run out of things to say and has time to fill so the audience gets its full value for the ticket price.

However, minor criticisms aside, SWF is an enjoyable venture into the perilous world of single life in a society obsessed with couples.

Fringe: Plays about relationships

For Ruth Baines of Ruthable Creations, there's a very simple explanation why relationships dominate the Fringe schedule.

"Sex sells," Baines said recently from Vancouver.

"As adults, we spend so much of our lives working that relationships are sort of our kind of recreation."

Baines' play, however, has less to do with sex than the opposite sex. In SWF... obo, running in the Broadway Theatre, Baines combines theatre and dance to explore how a woman can be single after 30 "without becoming a biological timebomb."

"I've been single most of my adult life, and they say 'do what you know.'"

At 34, Baines has reached a point in her life where sho no longer feels compelled to seek a mate. It wasn't always that way. In her 20's she says, she felt that Mr.Right was out there, it was just a matter of being cute enough or smart enough to attract him.

Baines' journey to accepting her single-ness is the subject of SWF... obo.

"To me, single means not having a serious boyfriend. Single does not mean that you're anti-sex or anti-relationship. It just means you're not in a relationship that has some long term goal on it."

It's a play which almost never got finished. In March, Baines' car was T-boned at an intersection, demolishing it and aggravating Baines' already sore back. She was so immobilized she spent three weeks flat on her back on the floor - a cruel fate for someone who teaches fitness, dance and horseback riding.

"I had to go through the uncertainty of not knowing if I would ever dance again."

Baines is taking her play to the Saskatoon Fringe, and three others in BC. She's looking forward to seeing the reactions of the different audiences in different cities.

"This is my first solo, full-length exploration of theatre. I wanted to have the experience of touring and learning about my own work."

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