Arts & Culture

‘Mamafied’ Mothers Plenty of Laughs

Cash for your car

“Mamafied” reads as a ‘flat-out hilarious comedy’ about motherhood, married sex, and three generations of women in the same family. And it is all that, but it’s also so much more. Part romantic comedy, part love story, even part quirky coming of age tale. It’s a tasty cocktail with more than a spritz of sexy seduction and, surprisingly, a strawberry slice of Kim Basinger’s 9 ½ weeks.

Shamefully, I’ve never seen “The Vagina Monologues”, but I really hope those shows are at least as good as this. Yes, there’s outrageous behavior. Yes, there’s plenty of adult content (no nudity). Yes, there’s profanity. But all the red flags disappear within minutes.  Why? Attribute it to the star.

Susanna Brisk stars in

The show is a one-woman tour de force performance by Susanna Brisk. A brave, candid, sexy redhead who looks like Gwyneth Paltrow’s more attractive sister. She steals every moment of your time and by the end you’re asking for her to take more.

The biographical story centers on a 30-something woman whose life gets turned upside-down by her young children. She fights the good fight while battling cartoons, infantile tantrums and just about everything you might imagine….and what’s better, all the things you’ve never realized unless you are a mother, or married to one.Susanna Brisk,

And that brings up one of the other topics of the show. Married life after kids. We’ll never see her “husband”, but gleaning the show’s special thanks notes, he does in fact exist. He’s a lucky man to be sure. But frankly, we don’t want to know more that what she shares. It’s her barbeque and she’s a fine cook all by herself.

Brisk is a delightful party host. She makes the audience so comfortable, we feel like part of her family. Or maybe more appropriately, like a friend with benefits. After all she shares some of her most private and intimate moments with us.

Perfect night, Perfect crowd

The audience that night was a perfect crowd. A blend of early thirties up to forty-something. Seated nearby, however, was a twenty-something double date. The girls giggled first, but as the sex talk heated up, both guys swooped in to join the celebration.  Too many knowing laughs and well-picked snickers revealed the audience’s dirty little secrets. A handful of gasps throughout kept the audience on their toes. What will we hear next!

Susanna Brisk
Between one-third and two-thirds in, there’s a number of sound effects added. Now, yes, there’s effective sound effects throughout, but for this thirty-minute period, it feels almost like a rock concert and Brisk is our rock star. Perfectly timed, she struts, saunters and shimmies from corner to corner in-sync with each lighting cue. Producer Alexandra Guarnieri has earned her wings.

Michelle Danner’s direction is superb. She shows you exactly how good a little show can be. The colors, sounds and actions are near pitch-perfect.

While not knowing how much or how long the adaptation took, Dramaturg Will Pellegrini deserves kudos for the finished process.

Encore! Encore!

Local theater, take note: this is low budget, but high quality. The audience was so pleased afterwards, had the production passed around a tip jar, they may have been able to self-finance a sequel. Speaking of, let’s keep our fingers crossed. As her children grow hopefully’ll they only provide more inspiration. I’ll be first in line for “Mamafied 2”.

"Mamafied" runs through July 27 at the Edgemar Center for the Arts
2437 Main St., Santa Monica, CA. 90405
Tickets are $25
For more information or to buy tickets
visit: www.edgemarcenter.org
(310) 392-7327

 

About the author

Joe Wehinger