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Posted by Kate on July 22, 2000 at 18:11:59
BRAVO!!
This one woman show captures the essence of being a woman over thirty in today's society. The monologues were honest, humorous and delivered with style. The dancing was marvellous. All single women should see this play - it will make you feel proud to be single!
SWF... obo
A one woman show about life, love, lust and independence. Ruth Baines takes us through an episode of Sex and the City & Ally MacBeal to ask a question: Do women have to be married to be happy? Her answer is… no. By mixing interpretative dance and a monologue, this shows tries to put the single versus married debate into perspective for us… Ruth Baines' performance carried a lot of edge… She has a lot of energy that takes this "chick" play far.
3 stars ***
Tara Taylor, Uptown Magazine
Play Title: SWF …obo
Review:
Ruth Baines calls her piece on being a single white female a "comediography". It's a neat hybrid in that her amusing inquiry into the trials and tribulations of the world of being single is a combination of stand-up comedy and dance. Both her dance and her movement are choreographed. "SWF…obo" occasionally has the feel of those old-time musicals, where in the midst of the story the characters would burst into song. But in this piece she bursts into dance. Ms Baines (as Mona) wears some weird stuff in the show, especially the piece with fur-lined elbows and neck, and her tiara and gold elbow length gloves. It sounds incongruous, and it is. As is the mixture of theatre and dance but in a way that holds a curious interest. It's a good thing when artists try out these hybrid forms because it can provoke unusual combinations.
Robert Enright, CBC Winnipeg website & telecast
SWF... obo
Ruthable Productions
Cartoonist Jules Feiffer used to draw these droll cartoons depicting a woman doing an "interpretative dance" while sharing her thoughts on relationships and other matters. With its interpretative dance and the punchlines, this work by Vancouver's Ruth Baines is almost like those cartoons... Her show is rather like a Women's Comedy Nite style monologue about dating, punctuated with expressive dances suggesting longing, loneliness, fulfilment and rage....
Randall King
The Winnipeg Sun, July 25, 2000
SWF... obo
Ruthable Productions
Fringers have one-up on the Queen of Three Week Relationship- theirs are usually under 90 minutes. But less than half the time is all we have to share with Ruth Baines as she scours the desperate landscape of singledom. Not exactly uncharted territory, Baines plumbs the depth with style and a few dance steps. There's also an eerie humour that gave me the distinct impression her quirky Mona persona was nothing more than a brittle cocoon through which the real Ruth Baines would step and tell us what she really thinks.
Since I like roller coasters I plan to return to face the inevitable.
Todd Blakesley
The Jenny Review, issue #4 Tues July 25