Sons & Mothers: a moving theatre treat

Theatre

Monday October 21, 2013 Comments

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Every now and then theatre audiences are treated to a performance that changes the way we look at ourselves and the world around us. Such a show is being staged right now in Adelaide.

Sons & Mothers is by far the best theatre I have seen in years. The No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability production reached out to squeeze my heart and never let go.

Duncan Luke, Ryan Rowland, Kym Mackenzie, Damien Turbin, Ricky Samai and Ben Wishart are the stars who make this show shine. They use their humour, grace and storytelling ability to make Sons & Mothers such a special treat.

Writer and director Alirio Zavarce has great respect for his actors, who all live with some kind of disability, and for the audience. Each actor tells the story of his love for his mother through words, music, dance and drawing. The mothers themselves also get a say through interviews that are projected on screens above the stage. Eugenia Lim’s audio-visual design is simple and brilliant.

What is most amazing about this performance is that it is all about love. The love that a boy child feels for his mother – and the love that the man continues to feel for his mother after he has grown up.

I laughed so hard at Ben’s bum wiggling and Damien’s cheeky answers. But I cried, too.

There were comments that made me reconsider how I parent my own three sons. Do I ever tell them I love them just the way they are? Do they wonder if they live up to my expectations?

To love and be loved is possibly the most a profound experience in life and we all deserve to experience having that feeling reciprocated. Sons & Mothers shows the many facets of this love. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Simply wonderful!

Sons & Mothers, by No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability, is being presented at the Space Theatre by the Adelaide Festival Centre and Windmill Theatre until October 26.

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<h1>Sons & Mothers: a moving theatre treat</h1>

<address><a href="https://inreview.com.au/contributors/anna-solding/" class="author">Anna Solding</a></address>
											
							Every now and then theatre audiences are treated to a performance that changes the way we look at ourselves and the world around us. Such a show is being staged right now in Adelaide.
Sons & Mothers is by far the best theatre I have seen in years. The No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability production reached out to squeeze my heart and never let go.
Duncan Luke, Ryan Rowland, Kym Mackenzie, Damien Turbin, Ricky Samai and Ben Wishart are the stars who make this show shine. They use their humour, grace and storytelling ability to make Sons & Mothers such a special treat.
Writer and director Alirio Zavarce has great respect for his actors, who all live with some kind of disability, and for the audience. Each actor tells the story of his love for his mother through words, music, dance and drawing. The mothers themselves also get a say through interviews that are projected on screens above the stage. Eugenia Lim’s audio-visual design is simple and brilliant.
What is most amazing about this performance is that it is all about love. The love that a boy child feels for his mother – and the love that the man continues to feel for his mother after he has grown up.
I laughed so hard at Ben’s bum wiggling and Damien’s cheeky answers. But I cried, too.
There were comments that made me reconsider how I parent my own three sons. Do I ever tell them I love them just the way they are? Do they wonder if they live up to my expectations?
To love and be loved is possibly the most a profound experience in life and we all deserve to experience having that feeling reciprocated. Sons & Mothers shows the many facets of this love. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Simply wonderful!
Sons & Mothers, by No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability, is being presented at the Space Theatre by the Adelaide Festival Centre and Windmill Theatre until October 26.
 
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