Time marches on for Mom’s the Word
ON STAGE What: Mom’s the Word 3: Nest 1/ Empty 2 Where: Belfry Theatre When: To Aug. 12 Tickets: 250-385-6815 or belfry.bc.ca Mom’s the Word, a series of plays based on the experiences of five actor/mothers, has reached another juncture in the life of its parents.
The third and latest play, Mom’s the Word 3: Nest 1⁄2 Empty, depicts those mothers as they speak on the latest motherhood moments, middle age and the times when children are grown and leave home.
But it’s also about when the kids don’t leave home. Then again it can be about when they leave home and come back and leave again, and so on.
“They are starting to launch their own careers, or not, launching or not launching, or they are coming and going from the home, or not,” said Allison Kelly, one of the five Mom’s playwrights in an interview at the Belfry Theatre. “It’s about dealing with change.”
The series Mom’s the Word is the theatrical offspring of Kelly and four other Vancouver actor moms: Deb Williams, Jill Daum, Robin Nichol and Barbara Pollard. In 1993, as the then new mothers of young children, the women would get together and share stories in moments that became supportive and cathartic.
They began writing those experiences down and in 1995 the first production of Mom’s the Word debuted at the Arts Club in Vancouver. Originally intended as a three-night run for the Women in View festival, the five mothers found they had given birth to a runaway hit.
Mom’s the Word plays have now been produced in 19 countries and translated into 14 languages, making the show one of Canada’s biggest theatrical exports.
In 1995 the five mothers followed up with the second in the series, Mom’s the Word 2: Unhinged dealing with those years when the children become teenagers. In 2005, a remix appeared blending elements of both plays.
The latest instalment is a return to the familiar format of the other plays: five mothers all approaching the role of motherhood from a variety of perspectives, from an over-protective mom who doesn’t want to let go to one who never even wanted to be a mother.
But Nest 1⁄2 Empty sees the Moms role expanding in many new ways. Now in middle age, they find themselves playing mother to their own parents who now need help. One of the Moms is dealing with a husband who is now living in a care facility with early-onset dementia. Another is now divorced and has new needs of her own.
The only thing that never seems to change is their motherly concern and worry over the safety and futures of their children, even if they are now adults.
“You have to parent your parents, you are parenting your husband or partner and you are still parenting your children,” said Deb Williams.
“You never stop parenting your own children.”
“You are still the mother,” she said.
She and Kelly said the latest instalment in the series has surprised them because it appeals to a much more universal audience than previously. Instead of mostly women and mothers, Nest 1⁄2 Empty appears to be a hit with men and people who’ve never even had kids.
“Everyone in our age group gets what we are going through, whether they have children or not, are partners or not, singles or not,” said Williams.
“It’s an age [middle age] where everything seems to become quite universal.”
Mom’s The Word 3: Nest 1⁄2 Empty will be at The Belfry until Aug. 12.