Review-Mother Matters-Apple Pie Productions
11-5-14
By: Meaghan McGurgan
Mother Matters is an ensemble theatre piece that is being presented at the KUC Space in Jordan this weekend, described in the bill as "The Mother of all Plays" and "We couldn't afford therapy- so we wrote a play". Mother Matters seemed the perfect play to go see this weekend as Mother's Day is being celebrated today in the US and Hong Kong. The production is the brain child of actress, playwright, co-director and pie baker Lisa Middleton. She had performed in The Vagina Monologues and was inspired by the format of Eve Ensler's work. She took a similar format to last night's performance of Mother Matters. It was simple story telling with no frills but a lot of heart.
Various topics and varieties of mothers were covered in the show last night: step mothers, good mothers, bad mothers, mothers in law... The pieces were written by a variety of playwrights whose perspective on motherhoood was performed by a cast of 15 performers. Cast stands outs include Lizzi Wood and her delightful performance of a little poem about hating children, Francis O'Grady's opening piece for stellar pacing and great vocal delivery and Vanessa Eva-Louise Noble for wonderful physicalization and facial expression during her pieces. (I'm obsessed with her polar bear impression...)
Mother Matters is bare bones theatre at its best. It tells stories from a place of honesty and heart. People will appreciate the bravery of the performers in the pieces. It's not all sad stories - don't worry! There are some very cute and funny parts about motherhood as well. It's not your traditional theatre show and reminds me of some of the theatre workshops I would see in the US. It's nice to see something different in HK but people wanting a show with a large musical number and lots of production value might not like Mother Matters and its simple vision.
Where the show can improve is in pacing. The show is a bit long at over 2 hours. Although this makes my ticket price seem very valuable, parts of the show could have gone a bit faster, especially the transitions between pieces. Some of the funnier pieces, like Superhero Mums, could have been read a bit faster as the comedic timing felt off.
At 150HKD, including a piece of homemade apple pie, Mother Matters is a delightful show to go to this Mother's Day. All the money raised from the production is going to charity so it makes you feel good that your night out is going to a good cause.
Mother Matters is playing at the KUC Space (Kowloon Union Church) through May 11th. For more information, click here.
Comments
Maria
Ab fab show. Great job to Lisa and crew
27 May 2014