Pramkicker

UK Playwright Sadie Hasler has insightfully addressed the hazy line between the mothers’ and the non-mothers’ dilemma in her play Pramkickers, presented by Dirty Pennies TheatreProject and Theatreworks, directed by Poppy Rowley.

Two (non-mother) sisters - Jude (Anna Burgess), a feisty, sexy thirty-eight-year-old and Susie (Amy May Nunn) a dowdy bookish thirty-year-old, bond for the first time as friends after Judy is sent to Anger Management classes for kicking an empty pram down some steps, during a heated argument between an eco-friendly trendy mother at the local café.

This is an inciting incident that triggers deep and meaningfuls between the two siblings. Jude, the wanderer, decided she didn’t want children at the age of fifteen and is sick of being berated by the mums and pram jams while buying her daily takeaway coffee. For the first time in her life Susie feels embarrassed by her “amazing” big sister, reflecting on childhood memories to try and make sense of the current mayhem in their lives, while both live in the family home while their parents reside in the South of France.

Susie falls pregnant and desperately wants the baby because she loves the father to be. With some witty commentary on abortion from Jude and talk of missing the G&T drinking sessions, younger sister Susie decides to tag behind her big sister yet again and go against her motherhood plans. Jude claims she is “the Edith Piaf of the empty womb”, stating there is no shame in her decision to not have children. Both actors give generous convincing performances, with thought-provoking dialogue that is witty and in-your-face.

The artistic decision for minimal sets allows for generous physical movement. Burgess is raunchy in her bat out of hell experiences with blow (cocaine) and high-class escorts, whilst Nunn is impeccably eloquent in her monologue. The lighting design (Emma Lockhart-Wilson) is effective, and sound (Kevan Atkins) is punchy and at times dramatic.

Pramkickers is a funny, sharp, and satisfying show that reflects on the ongoing debate about what it is to be a modern independent woman.

Flora Georgiou