"I am the absolute Queen of the three week relationship. When I told this to my last boyfriend he asked me if I just had really bad PMS."

Can a woman still be single after 30, without becoming a biological time bomb; obsessed with finding "Mr. Right", or should that be "Mr. Right Away Please?" Self proclaimed "spinster," Ruth Baines draws from personal experiences to create an intimate, if somewhat sarcastic, look into the challenges facing a single woman living in a world obsessed with pair bonding.

SWF...obo originally premiered in Calgary, where audiences warmly received this project which is presented through a fusion of text, music and dance.

Creator/Performer - Calgary born Ruth Baines is a Fine Arts Graduate in Dance from York University. Ms. Baines continued her training at the proferssional training program at the prestigious Main Dance School in Vancouver. Since completing her formal education Ms. Baines has worked with several of Vancouver's senior choreogrpahers both as a performer and an adminstrator. Highlights were appearing in Holly Humble Bright's "Yellow Wall Paper" and starring in the GVHS interdis project "Le Masque Canadianne". This year she appeared in independant film "Trout to Lunch" and produced and performed in "the First Annual Whine and Cheese Ball". Ms. Baines continues to live and work in Vancouver, where she is happily single.

Director Shelley MacDonald hails from Toronto where she worked as an actor, stage manager and director. Selected directing credits include the original plays "Overpass" (Toronto) and "Hey You" (Vancouver), which she also wrote. In Vancouver she produced and performed with the all female comedy troupes "Girl Parts", "Laced Ham" and "Kunk". Ms. MacDonald has done the last 2 years at the "Vancouver International Comedy Festival" and has done improve work for the "Comedy Network". She also appeared on the t.v. series "Cold Squad". This year she produced her first short film "The Island of Dr. Jekyll" and starred in the Independent Feature film "High Incentive". Look for her at the Vancouver Fringe Festival in the play "I could have any guy in this bar that I want".

Composer Linda Nessel was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and studied piano and theory at Alberta College, and at Grant MacEwan Community College as a piano performance major. Ms. Nessel completed her education at Simon Fraser University, where she received her Bachelor's and Master of Fine Arts degrees. Her concert works have been been featured at Pro Musica's annual "Sonic Boom Festival", the first "Vancouver New Music Festival", and SFU's School for the Contemporary Arts "20th Anniversary Concert Series". Recent works include an original score for the Federico Garcia Lorca tragedy, "Yerma," sound design for the Naomi Wallace play, "One Flea Spare,"and a piece for choreographer Lisa Naugle entitled "Falling Out."

Show Press, Interviews and Reviews

"Ruth Baines has not unappealing stage presence."
Kevin Prokosh, The Winnipeg Free Press, July 24, 2000

2000 Winnipeg Fringe Reviews

2000 Edmonton Cirque du Fringe Reviews

2000 Cowichan Fringe Reviews

1999 Saskatoon Fringe Review