[2012062] Sons & Mothers
No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability @ Queen’s Theatre 1
11:00am, Wed 29 Feb 2012
No Strings Attached had always delivered me quality theatre during Fringe-time, so Sons & Mothers was slotted in without a second thought; the matinée option was icing on the cake. And for this performance, the rough-hewn Queen’s Theatre 1 is almost at capacity with a collection of initially rowdy school groups.
But it doesn’t take long for them to be sucked into the world of Sons & Mothers and become quiet through rapture. Each of the six actors (seven, if you include writer/director Alirio Zavarce) shares stories from their maternal relationships in turn; there’s spoken, or acted, danced, or even sketched delivery by the Sons, interlaced with video footage of their Mothers. There’s some serious moments as Sons reflect on how they (or their disabilities) may have been problematic for their Mothers, and occasionally one of the Mums will describe some candid and sobering memory… but they’re always offset by answers to the constant question “when did you first meet your Son?” which yielded wonderfully diverse responses.
And the Sons themselves… they’re fantastic. Despite their disabilities, they clearly give their all in their performances; there’s evidence of concerted effort, and they way in which they support each other is just so heartwarming. And their stories… chock-full of joy and love and humour and – most of all – compassion, whether it’s Kym Mackenzie’s inspired moment of birth, or Ryan Rowland rocking out on his guitar (to his Mother’s protestations), or the sublime beauty of Ben Wishart studiously sketching out aspects of his maternal relationship, projected for all to see.
Everything about this production just works: Kathryn Sproul’s set is absolutely gorgeous, creating personal spaces for each of the actors to call their own, as well as providing surprising surfaces for projected photos and films and textures. David Gadsden’s lighting, too, is superb – light and shadow accompany tonal shifts in a way that just seems effortless. And Alirio Zavarce, whose trip to Venezuela to see his dying Mother formed the impetus for this piece, directs the other six actors from onstage. His input is rarely needed, and so subtle and gentle when required; his narration a steady, empathic constant to the performance.
Sons & Mothers was a beautiful, emotionally engaging, and – above all – uplifting experience, and it absolutely deserves all the plaudits it received (and it did very well at the Fringe Awards). Despite the occasionally sad or weighty moments, I remember leaving the Queen’s Theatre absolutely jubilant; but it’s only just now that I’ve looked at the blurb in the Guide and on flyers for the show – “six disabled men explore the most intimate relationship they may every have with a woman”… and I’ve just shed a little tear or two. There’s little bits of happiness in those tears, though, such was the joy that was brought to the stage by No Strings Attached. Bravo!