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Friday, March 29, 2024

Theatre review: Motherload will charm, delight and touch you

The trials and triumphs of motherhood are as varied as life, as four East Vancouver women share their lives on stage in Motherload.

[pullquote]This social media generation are able to do something that the similarly themed Mom’s The Word was not able to do 15 years ago, as we not only hear the stories but we also get to see the pictures and videos that will make you either squeal with laughter or sigh in recognition.[/pullquote]Written and performed by Emelia Symington Fedy, Jody-Kay Marklew, Juno Rinaldi and Sonja Bennett, the foursome take turns telling their personal stories of motherhood.

All four women are open hearted and completely fearless in their revealing stories. They invite the listener in, and reward them with stories that charm, delight and touch you.

The poised yet hot-blooded Bennett hilariously describes the different types of mothers hanging out at the park, some provoke sarcasm and others envy. Rinaldi brings pathos as a mother who ‘used to be kind of funny’, but now makes money-shining shoes and her postpartum depression is powerfully realized. There is wicked mischief brought by Symington Fedy as she tells tales about not washing her kids or cleaning her house. She is impishly fun and every time she comes on stage you lean forward.

The one who made me laugh-out-loud the most though was Marklew, whose deadpan insults towards her lover hit with pinpoint accuracy, and then just as easily moves into brash physical comedy as she tries to get in some naptime “nookie”.

This social media generation are able to do something that the similarly themed Mom’s The Word was not able to do 15 years ago, as we not only hear the stories, but we also get to see the pictures and videos that will make you either squeal with laughter or let out an “aww” in recognition and appreciation.

The first outing for this new work, there is still some fine-tuning to be done, but if you love the videos that your friends post of their kids doing adorable things, and you get inspired by the stories of what mothers go through, you will find a Motherload of pleasures here.

Motherload written and performed by Emelia Symington Fedy, Jody-Kay Marklew, Juno Rinaldi and Sonja Bennett. Directed by Courtney Dobie. On stage at The Cultch (1895 Venables St) until February 21. Visit https://thecultch.com for tickets and information.


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