Baby Baby

(Please note that there is no performance at the Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh on Monday 2 March as previously listed.)

Suitable for 13+ Contains strong language

Pinky and April always see each other about town. They are both 15 but that's the ONLY thing they have in common. They have different friends, different styles and different tastes. Or so they think...

Pinky hangs out on College Green, drinking, smoking fags (and anything else that's going around) with Phil and her friends who are pierced up, grunged out, coloured in, and biker booted.

April doesn't. She hangs out on Park Street, with Marco and the other 'streetys'. Snow white trainers, designer labels and every hair exactly in place is what counts in her part of town.

But despite their differences Pinky and April just can't help getting under each other's skin. And somehow, despite everything, they end up together at Tinley Road School for young mums.

Baby Baby takes a look at the pressures (and pleasures) of becoming a young mum. It doesn't set out to preach about the trials and tribulations of becoming an under-age parent. It educates, stimulates discussion and raises awareness about the realities of motherhood - whatever age. Baby Baby isn't another lecture warning young people about under-age and unprotected sex, it listens to real experiences and tells it how it is.

The central theme of the play is teen pregnancy told through the distinct voices of two girls who are living through it. It also addresses the differences young people identify amongst themselves, the importance placed on fashion and subsequently your identity and sense of self. How does your 'look' identify your principles and beliefs before you've even opened your mouth?

The play briefly examines the girls' relationships with their own mothers. Looking at how they differ and what these do to affect their relationships with their own children - what do we identify and attribute to our own parenting?

Baby Baby raises questions and poses a challenge, demanding a young audiencce to think and re-think their perceptions and prejudices about people - the way they look and their life choices.

Vivian French researched Baby Baby when working with a group of girls at a unit for young mothers in Bristol on a writing project. They talked about their experiences, emotions, discoveries and feelings before and after, as they entered motherhood aged 16 or even younger.