Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Two Mums
Liman Productions
Genre: Comedic, Contemporary, New Writing, Theatre
Venue: Greenside George St
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
The story of a very different journey to motherhood. A beautifully written piece, delivered by two exceptional actors, polished by deft direction. Humorous and witty with a thought provoking conclusion.
Review
Two Mums is a story of surrogacy that doesn’t quite pan out as expected but doesn’t end quite as either party was expecting either. The conception of the play lies in the lived experience of years of unsuccessful attempts to get, and stay, pregnant. This has been developed by the cast working with writer, Shaun Prendergast and creative consultants Andrea Brooks (who also directs) and Adam Purdy.
The story is framed by a blog Miss Conception (link to the real blog, More Than Bacon and Butter, that contributed to the inspiration for the show in the additional info at the foot of the review) and involves Lucinda (Louise Amos) and Natasha (Maria Liman). Lucinda desperately wants and baby and has endured countless rounds of IVF only to then lose the baby; Natasha wants to support her family back home and sees an opportunity for a lucrative business deal. However, the journey to their respective dreams is not an easy one.
Prendergast’s writing is sharp and witty but also catches all the moments of sadness, loss and despair. It is beautifully paced and we ride along with the story laughing at one moment, catching our breath at another. In this he is ably assisted by two talented and confident actors. Louise Amos is a first class character actor, easily slipping into a number of additional roles with Russian film actress Maria Limon creating Slavic Natasha, a perfect foil to the slightly dour Scottish Lucinda.
It is in a tiny theatre in Greenside George St which supports the play in being very intimate, both characters speak very directly to the audience, we are definitely part of the story, the readers of the blog, but also constrains it in that there is very little space on the stage for the story to play out. Brooks and Purdy have done an excellent job of building in small elements of action, focussing on expression and tiny movements and using a sparse sound design that supports the whole that work as we are all so close to the action.
Ultimately, our two protagonists do work their way through the challenge of the journey they embarked on and find a way towards an unconventional parenting approach.
All in all a beautifully written piece, delivered by two exceptional actors, polished by deft direction. Humorous and witty with a thought provoking conclusion.
