Having a baby is life-changing in every way, but in Stroller, Dertnig zeros in on the way it re-choreographs a parent‘s negotiation of physical space. Daily urban life becomes an obstacle course as Dertnig tries to maneuver a stroller onto an elevator, up an escalator, or into a bus. Nothing seems to work in a city whose infrastructure is always a little too narrow, steep, or tight for the equipment of modern parenthood, and the awkward dance of body, baby, and pram that results is both comic and disturbing. Dertnig’s pseudo-slapsticks go beyond depicting haplessness, awkwardness, and ineptitude to risk actually being hapless, awkward, and inept.

Carrie Lambert-Beatty