MUM'S THE WORD till 17 July
Touring
MUM'S THE WORD
by Linda A Carson, Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Robin Nichol, Barbara Pollard and Deborah Williams
Tours to 17 July
Runs 2hrs one interval
Review Hazel Brown 16 March 2004 at Lighthouse, Poole
A celebration of motherhood in all its glory and gore.
Six actresses of assorted shapes and sizes paint pictures of being a mum in the modern world. The audience for the first night in Poole was overwhelmingly female, with just a few men brave enough to beard these lionesses in their den.
The stage is set with six chairs, arranged in a semi-circle as though for a group therapy session, against a backdrop of a nursery drawing of a house. In fact, the play is a reenactment of the experiences of the six Canadian authors who came together in 1993 to create a play about motherhood. The actors file on and repeat the horror stories they have heard about the birth experience from a forceps delivery that pulled off the baby's head to using Brillo pads on nipples to prepare for breast feeding. The action, such as it is, starts with Rebecca Wheatley drawing her chair to the front of the stage and miming the birth experience the snarling, the panting, the yelling and the overwhelming joy once the baby arrives.
One by one, the actors tell of their birth experiences, with Kim Hartman, as Alison, telling of the heartbreaking love she felt for her three month premature baby, Ben, as he was rushed off to an incubator and we nervously follow his progress to when she can take him home. The play generally takes the form of confessions or monologues, but occasionally moves out of this mode, most memorably for the swimming pool scene, when a dried and dressed toddler makes a break for freedom, pursued by undried, undressed mother and the wonderful scene in the park, where Paulo, Mediterranean Man, has found his niche as child and mother comforter.
The gamut of motherhood's horrors and joys are revealed, with the audience whooping and clapping with joy and recognition at the range of feelings expressed and actions described from the sick under the collar, the pockets full of dummies, the leaky breasts (duck if you are sitting at the front!), nappy soup, the loss of brain power and libido to the longing for bedtime (only 14 hours to go!), returning to work, hunting for a lost child, the guilt and so much more . . . . I am such an idiot, declares Alison, I keep taking my children to restaurants!
One thing puzzled me: why was it necessary for these excellent actresses to wear head mikes? All of them could project to the back of this theatre with ease and the occasional echo and variations in sound levels were distracting. However, this is no reason to shun a fun and warm evening of glory and gore.
Hazel Brown
CAST
Sarah White: Deborah
Rebecca Wheatley: Linda
Kim Hartman: Alison
Maureen Nolan: Jill
Polly Highton: Barbara
Julie T Wallace: Robin
Director: Wayne Harrison
Lighting Design: Simon Wilkinson
Sound Design: Tommy Gorman
2004-03-19 09:20:30