Expectations

Nothing is more exciting or suspenseful than expecting a child;
inevitably, the prospect of new life is filled with presumptions and
eagerness. But what happens when our hopes are subverted? Kristina
Branden Whitaker’s play draws on her own experiences to explore how a
couple copes when their child is born with a rare chromosome disorder.
Knowing that their child will always be different and that their
daughter’s life will be filled with struggles, this moving play is
nevertheless deeply uplifting.

Branden Whitaker and the other three cast members are unfalteringly
excellent; Paul (Steve Marsh) and Theresa (Sally Walsh)’s gripey
relationship is grippingly real, at turns hilarious and
heart-breaking. The Swedish couple of Mattias (Mattias Ahlen) and
Klara (Branden Whitaker) reveal the other side to the dilemma of
conceiving a child with disabilities, and although theirs is a
contrasting relationship, it is equally powerful. Never stopping to be
preachy, this is a thought-provoking and breathtakingly honest piece
of theatre.

– Miranda Fay Thomas