Next Act Theater presents "Motherhood Out Loud"

Reflections on what it is to be & have a mom 

"Do I have any eyes left?" my mom asked me after the house lights came back on. What that means in Kathyspeak is, "Did I cry my mascara all over my face?" I told her, "You have eyes left, but that's about it." She'd cried so much that the mascara was wiped clean away. Next Act Theater's Motherhood Out Loud will do that to you.

This play speaks to such universal truths that it's easy to be moved. We all have moms, or someone who has filled that motherly role. Motherhood Out Loud is a celebration and reflection of what it is to be and have a mom, specifically here in the U.S. Fourteen playwrights pooled their experiences and imaginations to create this play — a play full of stories and monologues from mothers in different walks of life at different stages of the game. We see moms during labor, the first day of school, their daughter's first period, their son's first date, the empty nesting, and so on.

These snapshots of life (performed by the seriously brilliant Michelle Lopez-Rios, Deborah Staples, Tami Workentin, and Doug Jarecki) really make you want to hug Mom. Or, if you're a mom yourself, I imagine you'll really want to hug your kids. Many of the monologues are laugh-out-loud funny: the sex ed, the mother-in-law. Some look at the various forms a mom can take: a surrogate mother to a gay couple, an unofficial step-mom, an adoptive mom. Others examine mothers' fears and protective instincts: a twenty-two-year-old son in the military, a seven-year-old son who likes to wear dresses. 

My mom wasn't alone when the house lights came back on. I saw lots of folks drying their eyes at the end of the show, myself included. If that's not a sign of remarkable theater, I don't know what is. With Mother's Day just around the corner, I say take Mom to this wonderful production of Motherhood Out Loud — and remember to pack the kleenex. 

For ticket information, visit nexact.org.