REVIEW: MUMS by Psychonaut at Lion & Unicorn Theatre 6-10 December, 2022

‘Grief is something no-one wants to think about… until it is all that one can think of’ ★★★

From a sombre family eating at their dining table to the first words uttered in this play by Oldest (Lavinia Grippa), it becomes evident that this family is caught in the cyclic, all-encompassing nature of bereavement. The lamentations over the loss of a brother, a son, initially abandoning them, later through death, is at times poetic and insightful into the nature of grief, its recurrence, its persistence.

The floor is covered with orange peels, and later the scent of the family peeling and eating oranges permeates the theatre, creating a multi-sensory experience. Poetic monologues, dance and song, rhythmic beats, this is not a typical Western construct of a play: no Hero's Journey, no singular protagonist overcoming a conflict and no clear narrative arc. The snippets of story of the daughter, Older (Eva Mateos Rodriguez) who is a teacher but also sells her body to men in the town for extra money comes closest to the traditional storytelling we expect.

The conflict that exists never seems to fully resolve when the brother reappears, nor when there is a corpse in front of them. Rather, there is a sense that this story will continue as it began even as the mother seats each of her children, each in an individual manner, at the table which is now holding the corpse of her son.

Subtly following the tradition of other multi-lingual companies, such as Teatro Multilingue, there is a beauty to the language aspect of the piece which demonstrates that emotion, especially gut-wrenching sorrow can come through no matter what tongue may be spoken on stage. The lively songs were written by Rodriguez and Arielle Zilkha, demonstrating their creative talent and enriching the story.

Experimental and experiential, there is a lot to remember about Mums, even if at times it lacked a sense of clarity in direction. Sometimes, this made it hard to know where to be watching. For example, at one point, each member individually speaking in a language other than English hit their chest (near the heart), then fell, writhing on the ground. At other times, it felt languid in pace. Nevertheless, Mums is an experience that has been inventively devised by an up and coming theatrical team (dare I say, family?) that is not afraid to push boundaries.

Created and devised by Psychonaut Theatre

Directed by Karola Kosecka and Lavinia Grippa

Performed by Juraj Benko, Lavinia Grippa, Karola Kosecka, Eva Mateos Rodriguez, Arielle Zilkha

Score composed by Arielle Zilkha

Songs written by Eva Mateos Rodriguez and Arielle Zilkha

Lighting design: Conor Hill

Reviewed by Mariam Mathew