Baby in the Mirror, Red Lecture Theatre at Summerhall Review
Written by Lauren Budd for Theatre and Tonic
Baby in the Mirror is the debut play from emerging theatre company Second Adolescence. Co-created by Sammy J Glover and Stella Marie Sophie, who also plays the leading role as Lena. Their sophisticated storytelling takes us through the practical and emotional challenges of starting a family as a queer couple.
Joey is Lena’s partner, usually played by Zoe West, but due to illness was played by the show’s director Sammy Glover, who gave a wonderful performance. The show opens with the couple happily and comfortably chatting on the phone to each other, as they move into their new place. The use of the moving boxes being repeatedly unpacked, packed, moved, and stacked, provides a clever metaphor of the couple’s unprocessed fears from the past and the future hanging over them. Derek Mitchell plays Ollie who provides a welcome light into the space, his layered, warm charisma immediately wins the audience over. Their friendship with Lena and Joey is special; however, the trio must navigate this next step together, setting new boundaries and letting go of old ones. Their commitment to each other offers a version of a family dynamic that they get to choose and perhaps even provides a silver lining.
Baby in the Mirror plays at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe until 24 August
★ ★ ★ ★
