Lisa Temple has serious issues with her mother. In order to work through her past and finally forgive the woman who gave her life, Lisa, with the help of her husband, has put together a one-woman show detailing the pain of her formative years. My Mother’s Yard is one woman’s attempt to gain closure on her past, thereby allowing herself to forgive and move on.
Expecting the set, as the title suggests, to be in her mother’s yard, it is instead laid out in a sporting goods store. As this hour long show begins, Lisa emerges from inside a tent to greet the audience explaining that she and her husband once had to camp out on her mother’s Midwestern lawn because the house was too cluttered. To further bring home her mother’s eccentricities, the audience is informed of the 22 vehicles that are parked in her mother’s yard, most of which are broken down.
As the stage is decorated with typical items found in a sporting goods store, Lisa uses these props to help guide her through her emotional story. Picking up a bag of beef jerky, Lisa recalls how her mother would only make dishes with meat after repeatedly being told Lisa and her husband were vegetarians. Holding a pair of tennis balls, Lisa recounts how her mother constantly chastised her lack of a full figured chest.
Receiving repeated criticism and disapproval from her mother regarding her looks, pursuits and life choices, Lisa built up a lot of resentment towards the woman who clearly preferred her two sons over her only daughter, even though neither man seemed to deserve it.
The idea for My Mother’s Yard began five years ago when Lisa’s husband, Rich Brunner began to write down the things she would randomly tell him about her past. Resulting in a series of monologues, which clearly emphasized Lisa’s strained relationship with her mother, the idea for the show was formed. But as she read the memoir Rich had created, Lisa found it was too much to handle and they put the piece away for two years.
When she felt ready to confront her ghosts, the couple brought her story out from hiding and prepared to create Lisa’s one-woman show. Using it as a form of catharsis, Lisa has boldly been able to work through her pain and forgive her mother for the years of rejection in front of a live audience.
Even though this was a trying experience for her, as evidenced by the real tears and raw emotion Lisa displays on stage, having someone else write the script (her husband) and direct her (Jan O’Connor) helped to somewhat remove her from the situation, allowing her to focus on her performance rather than her emotional wounds. A performance, which in the small space of the theatre can at times be uncomfortable, as it’s if the audience is caught between a very heated, very real confrontation between Lisa and her mother.
Ranging from the humorous to the emotional, Lisa’s stories reflect the rejection and hurt she internalized from her mother’s actions and words. Becoming a successful actress (she has appeared on TV shows Boston Public, Profiler, Arrest & Trial and in the movie Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer) with a happy marriage, Lisa has been able to overcome her experiences in Kansas, let go of the past and forgive the source of her life long angst.
Running through August 25th, My Mother’s Yard can be seen every Friday and Saturday at the Actors Group Theatre at 4378 Lankershim Blvd in North Hollywood.
For more information visit www.plays411.com/mymother or call 323.960.7862 .
