What better way is there to mark the age of Jon, Kate, and Octomom than with a play that explores the creepy secrets of childrearing? Look no further than Emmy Award-winner Rachel Axler's dark, serious, and very intelligent comedy, Smudge, now getting its world premiere at The Women's Project.

The work focuses on Colby (Cassie Beck, offering razor-sharp timing) and census-worker Nicholas (the fine Greg Keller), a young couple whose morbid but typically human fears about their baby being born unhealthy are realized beyond their wildest nightmares. In the wake of this horror, Mom turns to hostility and cheesecake, while Dad turns to philosophy and toy carrots. At what point, they ask themse[...]