For Crying Out Loud – You’ll Laugh Out Loud
Back in the 1990s a group of actresses got together when they became new moms. Like most new mothers, they were exhausted, frustrated and feeling overwhelmed. They decided to write about their experiences, and these short stories evolved into a play – a series of vignettes about raising babies. The play was first produced in 1993 called Mom’s The Word, followed 10 years later by Mom’s The Word 2: Unhinged, which tracked their experiences raising teenagers.
Now a hybrid of those two shows has been created. In Mom’s The Word For Crying Out Loud, Act I covers the issues of babies and toddlers, then Act II takes us through the challenges of the teenage years.
Now on stage at the Grand Theatre in London, this production has brought together all but two of the original authors who first travelled the country with the show 20 year ago. Most of the sketches are hilarious glimpses into the horrors of motherhood. We laugh because they are all too familiar. But blended with the funny stuff are some poignant moments too – the anxiety when a preemie barely survives, the heartache when a teenager becomes involved in drugs.
Act I starts with a fun song and dance number that puts all the foibles of motherhood into a hit parade of music. In the opening of Act II, they are the Alienators: those moms that completely embarrass and humiliate their teeny bopper kids at every opportunity.
I enjoy most those moments where I have a jolt recognition: my favourite line when I first saw the show several years ago is still there. “Every day I start out Mary Poppins, but I end up Cruella DeVille,” says a mother of young ones.
Some of the laughs in the show result from the use of shock value. The first time the f-word is used, an uncomfortable laugh titters through the audience, but when it is used again, there are loud guffaws. Soon, the f-word goes by hardly noticed – used by both moms and teens.
Similarly, there is great laughter when the audience is taken by surprise at breasts being used as squirt guns by breast feeding moms, and another scene, there is complete nudity at the swimming pool. There are also disgusting diaper pail jokes – nobody promised a clean show! We learn about motherhood, wrinkles, warts and all.
And through all this, the audience is squealing and roaring with laughter. Each little vignette is funnier than the last, as the cast of five talented women share their stories.
Mom’s the Word For Crying Out Loud will keep you laughing out loud. Grab your mom or your daughter and head for a ladies’ night out.
Mom’s the Word continues at the Grand Theatre, London until April 6. Tickets are available at the Grand box office at 672-8800 or 1-800-265-1593 or visit www.grandtheatre.com.
Mom’s The Word For Crying Out Loud
Written by Linda A. Carson, Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Robin Nichol, Barbara Pollard & Deborah Williams.
Directed by Wayne Harrison
Performed by Lindsay Burns, Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Barbara Pollard & Deborah Williams
Grand Theatre, London
March 19 to April 6, 2013
Reviewed by Mary Alderson