Theatre Review: Mum's the Word

Trigger warnings for this review include: premature birth, cancer, grief

Mum’s the Word (directed by Ian Good and written by Linda A. Carson, Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Robin Nichol, Barbara Pollard, and Deborah Williams) is a comedic collection of sketches following three mothers from pregnancy through to their children becoming young adults. The leading ladies – Barbara (Sarita Ploughman), Robin (Poppy Tierney), and Alison (Laurie Brett) – artfully portray the ups and downs of motherhood, capturing the emotion whilst still keeping the mood ever light and hopeful. Mum’s the Word, which is currently touring the UK, is able to shed light on those who are arguably the most overlooked and taken for granted in society, without being preachy or patronising.

Mum’s the Word draws attention to the struggles within marriages that can occur once children arrive, with the character Robin considering infidelity at one point before choosing to be honest with her husband and to resolve their issues. The topic of sex after childbirth is also addressed, with the husband being personified as a huge penis puppet who screams about how horny he is and chases his wife around the stage, which got the biggest laugh of the evening. The very real issue of most husbands taking a backseat, secondary role in childcare is comedically portrayed through Robins’ letter to her partner in which she pleads for communication and help with childcare and mockingly praises when he pulls his weight such as packing the nappy bag.

Mum’s the Word…is able to shed light on those who are arguably the most overlooked and taken for granted in society, without being preachy or patronising

The show addresses the real, painful issues that come with parenthood, such as when Alison gives birth to her son prematurely and spends 3 months with him in hospital. Brett delivers a raw performance and manages to captivate the intense emotion and grief that having a sick child can bring, which came somewhat as a surprise in the middle of a sketch show, albeit a pleasant one. Additionally, Barbara develops breast cancer when her children are young and worries about how they will cope without her, showing the automatic selflessness mothers must display.

The second half of Mum’s the Word seems to appeal more to a wider audience, as the characters describe their children’s ascent into adolescence and the struggles they all face from this. Alison describing her daughters first period and buying her first bra (a padded and rhinestoned one from Victoria Secret) provokes laughs from parents (for whom this experience may be a more recent memory than childbirth) and from the younger members of the audience who have firsthand experiences.

Brett delivers a raw performance and manages to captivate the intense emotion and grief that having a sick child can bring

Mum’s the Word utilises simple staging and props, using large children’s play blocks with images of references to the show, and the actors bring props on and offstage accordingly. This keeps the stage open and thus all eyes are on the actors – not that this is necessarily needed, as their performances are captivating enough. It is refreshing to see such a captive performance from a small, entirely female cast, and to enjoy it with a female-dominated audience; however, it would have been nice to see some more male attendees, as the very few that were in attendance seemed significantly less enthusiastic than their female companions. Additionally, the show is admittedly heavily focused on the white, heterosexual, middle-class experience of parenthood, which came through very strongly when the characters were drinking wine and discussing their hectic car rides to school.

Overall, although Mum’s the Word will perhaps struggle to draw in those outside of its demographic, it is very funny and engaging to its target audience.