CHICAGO -- The doldrums of January can be tough, leaving us feeling trapped inside for weeks on end. That can be especially hard on anyone looking after an infant. A new sensory performance from Filament Theatre, called “RAIN: for babies and their carers,” provides a warm and inviting opportunity to leave the house, baby in tow.

It’s not quite a play. Nor an activity, exactly. “We refer to it as a performance installation because it walks that line between an art installation and a performance,” says director Ellie Levine. “It’s an interactive experience.”

Geared toward pre-walking babies — “from newborn through crawling, before they’re toddling around,” Levine says — the total experience takes place over 45 minutes to an hour.

“Families arrive at the theater and take some time in the lobby to get prepared. We have two performers and a cellist in the show, so the two performers are in the lobby, meeting people and getting to know everyone’s names and maybe acknowledging that it’s really hard to get places with a baby sometimes — like, ‘Good job for getting here, you’ve already done an amazing job.’ You want people to feel calm and present.

“Then we move through the first space, which allows the babies to adjust to some new lights and sounds, and also let the adults have a moment to leave the busy world behind them. There’s a big net overhead that has little soft strings hanging down from it, evoking rain. And then from there we move into the main space, which is where the cellist is, so we start to hear some beautiful cello music. There’s a big white rug and overhead there are pieces that hang down and look like raindrops. There is space for families to sit down on the rug as the performers move through the cycle of a rainstorm, and the performers are interacting with the babies and the elements of the installation while they’re doing that. And then afterwards, families are free to explore the space with their little one. The performers are still around, the cello is still playing. There are some mirrored puddles on the ground, for example, that babies love to look into, and other elements they can interact with.”

The show’s origins:

The concept originated with a theater company in Australia and this is the first time the show is being done by a different company.

“The goal is for it to feel the same as the Australian version,” says Levine. Myself and a few of the other people with Filament went to Australia to meet everyone who made the show and see some performances of it. There are differences between an audience in the United States and Australia, so that’s part of our rehearsal and development process and seeing what might need to shift or change to make the show feel the same but executed in a slightly different way.”

U.S. audiences might enter the space with a different, more frazzled, frame of mind.

“Maternity leave works differently in Australia than it does in the United States, so we might be seeing families that have to go back to work a lot earlier, and then might be bringing different expectations with them into the space. A core part of this is the idea of giving people permission to take a breath and relax and enjoy this time with their little one, so it’s about finding ways to use the pre-show in the lobby space to put people at ease.”

Nothing kills a vibe faster than someone pulling out their phone, and Filament has anticipated this.

“We ask folks to declutter and leave most things in the lobby, including their phones. Or they can keep their phone in a pocket. But we encourage them to take this time to be with their baby, and we let them know that there will be a good time to take out their phone and take a photo at the end of the performance. When I was observing in Australia, everyone had their phones away until they were invited to bring them out.”

But, she acknowledges, not everyone may be able to resist the habit.

“If someone pulls their phone out, I’m going to approach it from a place of empathy. It’s probably because they need to check on something. People still have lives going on, maybe they have an older child who is with a sitter and they feel they need to check in on that. If you have to check your phone, no one’s going to be mad at that. But I think people are happy to do it. Like, oh, it will be really nice to put my phone away for 45 minutes and really be present for this.”

Sometimes people check their phones because, well, they’re bored. At a show designed for babies, will adults be engaged as well?

“Absolutely,” says Levine. “There’s something beautiful about not only watching the babies watch the performance, but watching the carers look at the reactions of their child.” No one is more entertaining than your own child! “And because it’s not a typical play, there’s a fourth wall. The performers are really engaging with the babies and the grownups and there’s nothing more lovely than watching your child have this kind of experience, but also having someone reflect that back to you and being like, ‘Wow, your child is amazing!’ — that feels wonderful.”

One anxiety that comes with caring for babies in a public setting: What if they cry?

“Anything that your baby does during the performance is totally fine. That’s why we call it more of a performance installation rather than a play, because people have expectations about bringing children to the theater. But this experience was created for you and your baby. If your baby cries, that’s totally fine. Babies cry. If they need to feed, that’s OK. If they want to crawl all around the space, that’s totally fine. Anything they might do, this space is created for you.

“When we were in Australia observing, there was one performance where pretty close to the beginning a baby started crying, and you could see the parent immediately be like (sharp intake of breath) and this feeling of, they need to get up and leave: My baby can’t be crying in the theater. So they gathered up their baby and started leaving and the performers paused and said, ‘If you need to step out, that’s OK. It’s also totally fine to stay. It’s OK for your baby to be crying. It’s all right.’”

Yes, a crying baby can be distracting in the moment. But “RAIN” is about “allowing the carers to feel comfortable doing what they need to do. That carer knows their baby better than we do, so maybe they do need to step out for a minute. But perhaps the baby is just fussy and needs to be moved into a different position and the baby will stop crying.

“There’s nothing in the performance that’s more important than the babies and their carers having a nice, relaxing time.”

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“RAIN: for babies and their carers” runs Jan. 6-18 at Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave.; more information at filamenttheatre.org

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