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THEATRE REVIEW: I AM NOT MY MOTHER
- July 12, 2012
- on 7/12/2012
- MoJo: Charlie Smith
Julie Herber, Jeanine Collins, Lia Seltzer in Maryland Ensemble Theatre's 'I Am Not My Mother'
Joe Williams
Julie Herber, Jeanine Collins, Lia Seltzer in Maryland Ensemble Theatre's 'I Am Not My Mother'
Joe Williams
The magic of live entertainment is dependent upon the connection between performer and audience. The give and take in that relationship is unique; its spontaneity and exchange of energies is personal, unpredictable and ephemeral, a richness not experienced when watching films or television or listening to recorded music. As in any relationship, the willingness of its partners to be open and honest and to commit determines how intense, how serious the relationship will become. Every once in a while, when the stars are aligned and the participants are willing, love happens. Such is the case between the audience and the cast of the Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s latest production “I Am Not My Mother.”
“I Am Not My Mother” is an original creation by playwright Suzanne Beal, composed from stories shared by women of diverse and varied background about the mother-daughter relationship. The stories are further illuminated through songs written by Jessica Bowers.
It would feel almost like gossip and betrayal to describe the stories here, so personal is the vibe of the show. Suffice it to say there are moments hilarious, touching, heart-wrenching, ironic, ridiculous, delightful, annoying, shocking, and just about anything else one experiences in an intense personal relationship.
Any relationship. For, while the stories are about mothers and daughters, the moments of revelation, anger, embarrassment, discovery, betrayal, reunion, loss and much of the gamut of life’s joys and vicissitudes, are emotions shared in any relationship, universal in the impact they have upon a life. This is not a show just for mothers and daughters, not just for women, but indeed, a show which addresses the arc of human experience and relationships in ways and through reminiscences which will resonate for anyone who has ever loved another.
This reviewer, a single male of middle-age, attended with two friends; a married woman close to my age and a single twenty-year old male. We were all moved by the show for different reasons and shared in-depth discussion after the performance about our own relationships and the resonances and memories prompted by scenarios in the performance. Woe be to the people in the row behind us as at least two of us (my lips are sealed) sat weeping, grabbing onto one another for emotional support during the last ten minutes of this powerful piece of theatre.
Much praise to Suzanne Beal for editing hours of interviews into a show with a cohesive arc. Director Gené Fouché helms with assurance and panache. The staging is straightforward, clear and streamlined. There is a moment of such brilliance toward the end of the show wherein the words and emotional content of the story being told are so startlingly, compellingly given physical expression, one cannot help but gasp. Then cry. Ms. Fouché presents a reviewer with an interesting conflict because each time one sees her directing work, one wants her to be at the helm of every show the MET does, until one sees her acting, at which point one wants her to be on-stage in every MET production. Either way, her direction of this show is another gift to the theatre going public. She is a treasure.
Luckily, she also had a cast of wonderful women with whom to work. Jessica Bowers, Jeanine Collins, Lynnette Franklin, Erika Jarecki, Julie Herber and Lia Seltzer all turned in the sort of truthful, empathetic, connected and alive performances which made one want to claim them as best friend and confidante. The reception after the opening night performance was a festival of audience members hugging and thanking the cast, director and writer. Higher accolades cannot be given.
“I Am Not My Mother” is a show everyone who has ever loved another person, who has ever had a mother, who has ever been in a relationship, should see. In short, everyone. Go. Now.
MET presents I Am Not My Mother through July 22. Tickets may be purchased online at marylandensemble.org, by phone at (301) 694-4744 or in person at the MET box office.
Charlie Smith reviews theatre and writes a weekly Rant/Rave for Want2Dish. He Tweets as MiracleCharlie & blogs at miraclecharlie.typepad.com/herewearegoing
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