‘Mother, Wife and the Complicated Life’ – Popjam Productions

MOTHER, WIFE AND THE COMPLICATED LIFE – BY AMITY DRY
DIRECTED BY DAVID LAMPARD
POPJAM PRODUCTIONS – EVEREST THEATRE, SEYMOUR CENTRE
23 MAY – 1 JUNE 2013

NOTE: We broke with recent tradition and did a Post Show Summary as we attended on opening night, with a group, and kicked on with the cast. Therefore we couldn’t record our usual intimate chat.

Lea: Amity Dry, who wrote the book, wrote the music, wrote the lyrics and stars in the show, just happens to be a Performing Arts alumni of Sybil and mine. Ahhhhh ACE – that experience deserves its own blog. Needless to say, we have a bit of shared history with Amity, and she invited us to her opening night in Sydney. We had already bought tickets to closing night, but who passes up an opening, seriously? I gathered some other theatrical peeps to form a posse and we took our seats, in anticipation of a good show. We got a great one. Little did I realise I would be passing tissues to Sybil and others in our party, pretty much from the first song. Am’s show is a potent, concentrated mix of stories that a lot of women can relate to, or wish for, or even reject. The combination of powerful writing and strong performances didn’t take long to get under my skin. It was a strange experience, as I found myself reading into what I thought my friends might be feeling, as well as my own thoughts. A kind of  shared, hippy experience, from my point of view anyway. The show is clever, heartfelt and catchy. That’s a recipe for success right there. No wonder it was picked for the New York Music Theatre Festival this year.

Sybil: As Lea mentioned, I saw most of this show through a fairly constant flow of tears. Yes, I’m a big sookie sook-sook, but I know I wasn’t the only one – there were many swollen eyes and red noses come interval and post-show. So what was it that so got under my skin? It’s a show that isn’t like any other I’ve seen: an intimate musical that doesn’t revolve around a family or a love story – but instead around a group of female friends who support each other through experiences that I, my girlfriends, my sisters and – well basically most of the women I know – have gone through or supported their friends through. It’s not about the picture-perfect Hollywood life – but draws on real-life stories of marriage, pregnancies, babies and friendships. The songs are strong – which I’d expected from Amity – but what I hadn’t expected was the clever character arcs and storyline, the quality of the performances and the amount I cried (I really didn’t expect that one!).

What I didn’t love: the sound, on the night we went, was very patchy – Amity’s mic could have been higher and the live band (out of sight side stage) were too muted for my liking. I loved the set which was cleverly constructed of moving parts so that each scene had its own space – but it didn’t fill the Everest Theatre stage which was disappointing. And the lighting left the stars of the show performing in the dark for many of the big numbers. All in all – I wish it had been around longer – it’s a great show and I’d go to see it again. I can’t wait to hear how it goes in New York with a new cast and director. Anyone want to fly me over to compare?

IN SUMMARY

PRE SHOW DRINKS: Seymour Centre Foyer. Maximising time and drink quantities. The Seymour Centre lets you take drinks into the theatre as long as they are in stylish plastic. Nice.
POST SHOW DRINKS: First in the theatre’s foyer, then at The Rose, then some random pub on Broadway in Sydney with the cast, selected because of its late night licence.
HANGOVER STATUS: E-PIC!
MORE INFO: www.motherwifemusical.com