Back by popular demand!

April 24 - June 8
at the Lowry Theater

Brassy, sassy, and honest, five women share the highs, lows, and everything in between of the planet’s oldest (and sometimes most thankless) career – being a mom.

Packed with well-written humour and candid insights, Mom’s the Word is a funny and thoughtful presentation of the different experiences each woman brings to the job. The multiple vignettes that form this play cover everything from leaky boobs and dirty diapers to car seats and playground falls.

Sincere, personal, and full of the truths of parenthood, Mom’s the Word is guaranteed to delight anyone who currently has, once had, or plans to ever have their own bundle of joy.

Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN)
September 8, 2001

Maternal monologus are full of yuks
Rohan Preston; Staff Writer
Call it a laugh riot on stroller wheels.

"Mom's the Word," which opened its wild hilarity Thursday night, is not your usual evening of theater. Structured like "The Vagina Monologues," this collection of colorful stories and anecdotes centers on the messes, mysteries and miracles of motherhood.

Scripted by six Canadian mothers and now produced by Actors Theater of Minnesota at St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theater, the show condenses motherhood stories to their funny essentials. The result is two hours of uproarious yucks.

Artfully staged by Casey Stangl, the scenes are re-created with wonderful comic timing and physical humor by an expert sextet of actors, all in a variety of roles. There are incredibly funny moments - of singing and humor, of insights and frustration.

The performers all have standout bits. Linda Kelsey does a touching portrayal of a mother whose premature child has severe complications. Also strong are Kirsten Frantzich, doing some exaggerated physical humor; Jennifer Blagen as the forgetful, mush-brained mommy, and Beth Gilleland, Andrea Guilford and Julie Madden in a variety of other roles.

The stories come from pregnancy, childbirth and child rearing. They feature moms in all kinds of positions - physiological and psycho(logical).

For example, early on we see how some strangers touch and coo over the expectant mother while others recount the scariest delivery stories and legends, like the one about the delivery doctor using forceps that decapitate a baby.

There are enacted stories about supermoms who express milk, literally spraying life-giving nourishment as if their breasts were water pistols.

One scene was a baby ballet, a kind of bunraku number which ends with the moms juggling their baby dolls.

The only quibbles with "Mom's the Word" have to do with pacing and the script. The rhythm is uneven, with the excellent baby ballet serving as a false break. And the ending, though true, is a letdown. Serious talk about the miracle of it all does not live up to the energy, force and humor of the rest of the show.

But considering what Stangl has achieved with her vision and her company of actors, it's nitpicking to note the shortcomings.

"Mom's the Word" is a mother of hilarity that teaches us a few things. And though the show is about motherhood in all its gore and glory, the show welcomes all. It suggests to fathers that it might be OK for them to say, "we're pregnant," but not "we were in labor."

To order tickets, call 651-290-2290.

Dinner will not be served during Mom's the Word.