Tara Newton- wordsworth
I gave birth in March and was trying out stand-up material two weeks later
Having had two children in the past two years, you would think the last thing Tara Newton-wordsworth would want this summer is to make her Edinburgh Fringe debut.
But the 30-year-old comic and actor obviously thrives on pressure.
She is bringing stand-up show Motherhood to the Fringe, with 20-monthold toddler Charlie, five-month-old Sam and husband Will in tow.
“Will pointed out to me last year that I’d wanted to perform a show in Edinburgh for a long time, so when was I going to do it,” explained Tara.
“When I got pregnant again with Sam I thought I couldn’t do it. But I decided there would probably never be a better time, because there will always be something on as they get older, so I just decided to go for it. “I gave birth to Sam in March and was trying out stand-up material on stage two weeks later.” Personal trainer Will does much of his work online, so can come to Edinburgh along with Tara.
“I was offered a 6.30pm slot for my show,” she continued. “But I’ve gone for 3.30pm as it allows me to be there for dinner and bedtime. My husband will work from home in the mornings and evenings.
“It’s our first time doing this, so we’ll just have to find out as we go along.
“I directed a show at the Fringe one time and it was late nights and out drinking – a very different experience to what it will be this time.”
Returning to the stage so soon after giving birth was a good thing for Tara. “After my first son, I lost a sense of who I was for a while,” she continued.
“I was so overwhelmed by motherhood and the responsibility of it. It was only when I went back to stand-up and the compere said my name that I thought, ‘yeah, that’s me, I’m a person’.
“I realised it’s not about having a job, it’s about reconnecting with who you are.”
She added: “The show is essentially my experiences on motherhood. I grew up on an organic farm in Western Australia to hippy parents and was home-schooled for five years, so I had a very different upbringing.
“I talk about bringing kids up in modern UK, as well as working through my own issues and being honest about the relentlessness of parenting.
“People appreciate the honesty.” Motherhood: A Comedy, Just The Tonic, The Mash House, The Bottle Room (venue 288), Aug 1-25