| |
Theatre listings >
Mum's the Word
- Tour
Created by Linda A Carson, Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Robin Nichol,
Barbara Pollard and Deborah Williams, a group of professional Canadian
Actors.
Director - Wayne Harrison
Lighting Designer - Simon Wilkinson
Sound Designer - Tommy Gorman
Company - Robert C Kelly Limited in association with Clear Channel
Entertainment
Cast - here
Venue - Kings Theatre, Glasgow
Dates - 3 - 22 Feb not Sun or Mons
Matinees at pm
Tour Dates and Times - here
Seen to review at Kings Theatre, Glasgow
Reviewer - Jay Dee
Easily entertaining but ultimately unsatisfying.
Set against the garish backdrop of a child's drawing, six women share
their experiences of motherhood through a series of interweaving monologues.
Mum's The Word has, apparently, been an international smash. The audience
at the opening performance of
the Glasgow leg of this touring production were certainly lapping it up.
And there is much that is pleasing on show. The performances are amiable
and the subject matter is something most people can relate to. Everyone
has a mother, even if they have never been a parent themselves.
These advantages, however, are not enough to overcome the production's
flaws. The writing is uneven - at best surprising and intriguing but more
often formulaic and obviously crafted to extract specific responses from
the audience.
The direction too feels formulaic. The actors spend most of the play taking
it in turns to deliver their lines in a spot centre stage. It is when
this convention is abandoned that the show becomes engaging. Indeed, the
most entertaining moment of the evening comes from some inspired physical
comedy, delivered by Annie Grace, as a mother desperately trying
to lull her baby to sleep. Carole Anders also engages and she is
served well by the most intelligent and thought provoking writing in the
show.
These tantalising moments are glimpses of what the play could have been,
delving below the superficial practicalities of motherhood into what these
practicalities actually do to a woman's life. Maybe you have to be a parent
to truly understand what is being said here, but the production feels
ultimately unsatisfying - easily entertaining but not really saying anything
new.
© Jay Dee 3rd February 2003 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
Cast:Barbara Rafferty, Carole Anders, Estrid
Barton, Julie Cadzow, Annie
Grace, Sarah Gudgeon.
2003 touring production of Mums The Word
Tour begins
21 Jan - 1 Feb at Newcastle Theatre Royal 0870 905 5060.
3 - 22 Feb at Glasgow Kings Theatre 0141 240 1111.
24 Feb - 1 March at Inverness Eden Court 01463 234234.
3 - 29 March at Dundee Caird Hall 01224 641122.
7 - 19 April at Edinburgh Kings Theatre 0131 529 6000.
Tour ends
Review of 2002
production.
Theatre listings >>
|
|
