MUMSICAL
Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace
See show info here
Rating: NNN
In this satirical solo musical Moniquea Marion lampoons all aspects of modern motherhood. From the so-called “ticking biological clock,” to pregnancy tests, to “natural” birthing, to postpartum depression, most popular parenting tropes and fads are skewered one after another in this scathing and silly rundown.
Backed by Mark Bond on piano, Marion hams up rewritten showtunes from The Sound Of Music, The Wizard Of Oz and Oklahoma, with references to the gross, smelly and terrifying realities of pregnancy, labour and childrearing.
The show’s farcical style is fast and loose, with some bits falling epically flat (a rap about public schools in the style of Gangsta’s Paradise is particularly muddled), but Marion always recovers well, spinning these slips into her character’s frenetic energy, and usually scoring even bigger laughs in the process.