Mother and Son

Mother and Son is an iconic Australian television series from the 1980s which I, and I’m sure thousands of other Australians cherished. We revelled in the naughty, difficult, absent-minded Maggie, and her long-suffering son, Arthur’s exploits. Coming to this reboot of Mother and Son, directed by Jude Hines, I felt hesitation about how this would translate across decades and likewise, if anyone could carry off these much-loved characters. I was captivated from curtain up!

This comedy, written by Geoffrey Atherden, the creator of the TV show, is fresh, funny and very poignant. Jude Hines has done a wonderful job in bringing this show to life. Her casting of Penni Hamilton-Smith as the matriarch Maggie Beare, who infuriates, but also tears at your heartstrings, and Patrick Clements as Arthur Beare is perfection. These two interact so naturally and with impeccable comic timing that we forget we are in a theatre and not in their living room. Hamilton-Smith, a stalwart of Adelaide theatre, has created a Maggie with whom we identify. We all have the aging relative whom at times we want to strangle, who is out of ‘time and place’, yet we love fiercely. Her Maggie is not as consciously manipulative as Ruth Cracknell’s, and because of this and her clever nuanced quirks, we empathise with her more.

Clements’ Arthur is a lesson in comedy but also in acting that inspires pathos. We feel for Arthur as he constantly tries to be the good son but is on a frustrating rollercoaster ride dealing with his mother. The poor man wants desperately to go on a holiday with his new love and is thwarted at nearly every turn.

Enter Stephen Bills, playing a most unlikeable character - Arthur’s brother Robert. Bills does an excellent job at creating the womanising dentist who manipulates every situation to his advantage but is the golden son. Nothing he does causes his mother to lose her gushing adoration and we instantly dislike him because of how he treats Arthur - the “good” son. Wonderful acting.

The play is cleverly adapted to a contemporary audience. The use of mobile phones is prevalent and each scene is divided by phone calls from Indian call centres and skype chats with Maggie’s grandchildren. The raucous conversations with the grandchildren, punctuated by shouting from their mother, and begrudgingly polite, but disinterested listening, certainly hit home. These are pre-recorded and highlight the acting talents of Alifa Willoughby and Henry Bacon as her grandchildren. The show also uses phone calls from telephone, gas and other companies to Maggie, as scene dividers, and these, likewise, hit a chord at how vulnerable old people are to predation for credit card and bank account numbers.

Scenes with Maggie discovering how to use her alert pendant and her forgetfulness were very funny, but again highlighted the difficulties of dealing with memory loss. My own mother had one and always forgot she was wearing it too!

Nikki Gaertner Eaton is Liz, Robert’s Zumba-loving wife who finds out about Robert’s infidelities and stands up to him. His web of lies would be hard to live with! Gaertner Eaton does a solid job in the role, although at times is a little hard to hear.

A standout in the minor principal roles for this reviewer was Mollie Mooney as Arthur’s love interest Anita. She is vibrant, fun and an excellent actor.

The rest of the cast play minor roles but have their own ‘moments’. Jessica Corrie does a sound, clearly spoken job in a very thankless role as the aged care assessor and Sandy Whitelaw is funny and cantankerous as a woman in the aged care facility.

The set, designed by Gary Anderson is lovely and the classic ‘older person’s’ home with well chosen furniture. The large portrait on the back wall becomes a video screen throughout the play, which was well used. Using divider screens to delineate a dentist’s surgery and the aged care facility was also very clever.

Lighting design by Richard Parkhill was, as always, on point and costuming by Rebecca Jarratt and Jenny Kwok was effective and apt for the period.

This is a lovely show and should not be dismissed as a re- hash of the old tv series. It is fresh, modern and whilst being funny and sharp, is a reminder to us all to care for the older generations and not dismiss them as forgetful and annoying. They may repeat stories and get things muddled, but they deserve our love and respect. Go see this delightful play and enjoy a lovely night at the theatre.

Shelley Hampton

Photography by Richard Parkhill.