Armand Aubigny, once a wealthy plantation owner, attempts to reclaim his upper-class birthright by presenting the green-skinned Swamp Baby at the 1904 World's Fair. Swamp Baby learns the secret of her unique appearance and uses her knowledge to trap Armand forever in the world of the freak. Exploitation and revenge are at the core of this fantastical tale. Get swept away by the freak show spectacle when Chicago-based playwright Aaron Carter's Swamp Baby hits the stage at the Greenhouse Theater Center.
"...Swamp Baby fantasizes about a mysterious woman named Desiree (Destiny Strothers) who sometimes sings to her in visions. A doctor (Rob Frankel) arrives to examine her, but he mostly works with a crystal ball, so never mind about science. This could be one terrible tall tale, except the beautiful language of the play is so expertly handled by the cast, especially Mattos and Strothers, who bring out the dignity and humanity in their characters. Where these two shine, so does Swamp Baby." Read Full Review
Irene Hsiao
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...Perhaps the most poignant, and certainly the most effective, aspect of Carter's script is that it is fluid. Like the very essence of water itself, his narrative ebbs and flows, moving forward and backward in time. In Iriana's past is the story of her mother Desiree (Destiny Strothers), a character who weaves her very being into Iriana's dreams and her spirit. It seems that Desiree too may have been abandoned as a child - or else fled - for as a young girl she showed up at the mansion of Madame Valmonde (Audrey D. Allen), a woman who would become her adoptive mother. Why Desiree was in the Manchac Swamp in the first place and who Iriana's father is are eventually disclosed as Iriana plans her retaliation in an attempt to guarantee her freedom." Read Full Review
