What If They Ate the Baby: Inside Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland’s Award-Winning Clown Comedy at SoHo Playhouse

Rosy clown makeup, haunted stage lights, and a spaghetti-stained dive into 1950s paranoia—Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland’s Fringe First–winning absurdist comedy What If They Ate the Baby turns domestic bliss into something eerie, political, and darkly hilarious.

Credit: Morgan Mcdowell

Natasha Roland and Xhloe Rice’s cheeks and noses are still rosy from faded clown makeup, even after they’ve changed into street clothes. They dodge rogue clumps of luminescent spaghetti and split milk, sitting casually on the edge of the stage. As they chat, the lights begin to flicker. The venue, SoHo Playhouse, is apparently haunted by a ghost named Bob. 

These are the remnants of What If They Ate the Baby, Xhloe and Natasha’s absurdist clown comedy. The Fringe award winning show features a looping conversation between 1950s housewives Dotty (Xhloe) and Shirley (Natasha). What starts as a casual chat about spaghetti casserole and scone recipes soon unravels into a web of 50s era McCarthyism and gender politics. 

The show is a tightly choreographed, 65 minute romp that is equal parts disquieting and darkly funny. Xhloe and Natasha flex their skills as an acting duo, proving the political power and intimacy of clowning. 

“Physical storytelling is so powerful,” says Xhloe. “A lot of our shows are based on archetypes; the housewife, the cowboy. It’s almost like these people have a set number of action figure poses that they can inhabit.”

Natasha remembers falling in love with the art at a clown school in Italy. Her days were simple: wake up at 6 AM, attend 8 hours of clown school, get drunk in the evenings. 

“My clown teacher gave everybody a cigar on the last day,” she recalls. “I went up to him and said ‘This is who I am.’ and he was like ‘Good. Keep doing it.’”

The duos’ stilted motions create a doll-like effect: controlled, unnatural, spiraling into the surreal. We’re clued into the mind of a housewife with secret desires and omnipresent husbands looming just off stage. 

Credit: Morgan Mcdowell

What If I Ate the Baby first debuted at Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival in 2023 where it received the Fringe First Award for Outstanding New Writing. Since then, the show has been back every year to sold out crowds. 

Before this latest rendition, Xhloe and Natasha were able to go back through the script with a fine-tooth comb, carefully refining and redefining the show. They broke a dance number to Theresa Brewer’s “Put Another Nickel In” into sections. They took time to understand their characters, even if the show is intentionally murky. 

“As playwrights, there’s a lot of stuff we’re not interested in confirming,” said Natasha. “But as actors, it’s your assignment to make it feel rich and interesting.”

Originally, Xhloe and Natasha’s roles were switched, with Xhloe portraying the more reserved woman Shirley and Natasha playing the wildcard, Dotty. 

“It was cool because I feel like we naturally fall into that dynamic,” Explained Xhloe. “but we made the conscious choice [to switch].” 

This decision was partially to subvert audiences’ expectations. When the duo first wrote the script, Xhloe had bleach blonde hair. They wanted to challenge the idea of the blonde bombshell stereotype and the white supremacist ideas that came with it. The character switch, they said, was also just an exciting challenge as actors and creative partners.

Credit: Morgan Mcdowell

Xhloe and Natasha first met in high school, where they shared a mutual love of theater. Their award winning shows sometimes include bits they first came up with when they were 15 years old. 

“We’ve been able to develop our own vocabulary with the way we move and interact with each other,” said Xhloe. “Less words need to be exchanged.”

Though the show is an exercise in nonlinear storytelling, the duo believe there is something for everyone. 

“If you’re into absurdism,” said Natasha. “Come one come all. If you’re not, just try your best to let it wash over you.”

What if They Ate the Baby runs at the SoHo Playhouse until December 31st. You can buy tickets here.