Sam and Jake are so excited to become fathers…just not in the state of Louisiana. Nothing has gone according to plan and this latest hospital visit in New Orleans is making both of them uneasy. Mohsin Zaidi’s masterfully crafted The Surrogate, deftly directed by Christopher Manousos, takes audiences on a deep dive into the journey to parenthood for a queer couple in the US. Detailing a single harrowing day full of revelations and life-changing moments, The Surrogate is an emotional roller coaster I didn’t want to end.

Marya has chosen to be the surrogate for Jake and Sameer; she saw them on a surrogacy website and wanted to help another family, especially another Muslim family, have a baby. She’s in New Orleans, visiting her son who’s attending Southeastern Louisiana University, when she starts getting headaches and feeling unwell. This unexpected trip to the hospital is making Sam and Jake nervous – their rights as queer people are totally different in Louisiana, and they’re not willing to risk her having the baby there. But when complications arise with Marya’s health and both she and the baby are at risk, more questions begin to surface than anyone was prepared for.

Scott Penner’s set design for The Surrogate is cold, institutional, and therefore perfect. From the teal flooring to the harsh overhead lighting to even having the occasional announcement over the speakers before the show, you feel like you’re in a hospital. Chris Malkowski uses those overhead lights brilliantly as they run the length of the room and as the light shoots from one end to the other we know that we’re changing spaces from the hospital room to the hallway outside. The arched wall of mirrors is fabulous, it allows us to see Marya lying in her bed, no matter which angle you’re observing from. Manousos’ staging of this play includes consistent movement for most of the characters, never forcing you to stare at someone’s back for too long. They’ve also putting the actors among the audience at certain points, making the Studio space feel even more intimate than usual.

The Surrogate’s 90 minute run time is bursting with story; Zaidi has expertly crafted this play to have the audience feel just how high the stakes are for everyone involved. At the forefront of the text there’s the issues around 2SLGBTQIA+ rights in the US, particularly the state of Louisiana where not only do they have very few rights as queer people, but paid surrogacy is against the law, and therefore their claim to the child would not be recognized. However, there’s also discussion of homophobia, women’s rights, bodily autonomy, as well as IVF and abortion. In one of the heated arguments between Sam and Christina, the idea of bodily autonomy in relation to wealth takes centre stage, and makes a huge impact. Marya is in massive amounts of debt, and has become a surrogate to help pay those bills. Yet when her health is at risk, it’s Sam who’s trying to make decisions for her by throwing his money around. None of these issues feel shoehorned into this play; they feel as natural as any conversation, nor does it feel outlandish that you’d have four people with these various issues all interacting within the same hospital.

Fuad Ahmed and Thom Nyhuus star as Sameer and Jake. Ahmed’s Sam has such a harsh exterior and his priorities seem so far from his husband’s that I was fuming with him by the end of the play (and by the reactions from the audience, I wasn’t the only one). Nyhuus’ Jake, on the other hand, is maybe a little too earnest, but you can tell that he’s approaching everything from a place of love and Nyhuus brings this to life beautifully. Antonette Rudder’s Christina is sassy, bold, and has that gorgeous Louisiana accent which immediately makes me feel warm and comfortable. Rudder is a formidable scene partner, particularly when paired with Ahmed – watching them go toe-to-toe throughout the play is exhilarating. Siddharth Sharma makes an impressive mid-play entrance as Marya’s son Qasim. Though his heartfelt musings to his sleeping mother fell a little flat for me, Sharma gives a fierce performance when interacting with Ahmed and Nyhuus. However, it’s Sarena Parmar’s Marya who steals my heart. Parmar gives an emotionally charged performance, and her physicality throughout had me holding my breath.

The Surrogate leaves audiences with plenty to think about with few answers given about the future of its characters. The final loop-the-loop of this particular coaster happens right at the end, and yet the final moments indicate a hopeful change from what we’ve just witnessed. This astounding feat of storytelling is so intensely grounded in the real world that you can’t help but feel invested in the lives of these characters; they feel like real people we’ve become close to through the pain and struggles we’ve witnessed alongside them.

The Surrogate runs in the Studio Theatre at Streetcar Crowsnest until March 29. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.crowstheatre.com/shows-events/the-surrogate

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You can find out more about Southeastern Louisiana University, and the Friendship Oak mentioned in The Surrogate here: https://www.southeastern.edu/campus_life/happenings/traditions/friendship-oak/

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Cover Photo: Sarena Parmar in The Surrogate. Photo by Kendra Epik.

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