REVIEW: (the) Woman by Jane Upton at Park Theatre, 6 - 25 October 2025
'the beauty and the blood of motherhood and the satellite experience of others' ★★★★
There has been (finally) a rise in stories about motherhood that take the sheen off of the glossy images of celebrity mothers on social media. From stories of struggling with fertility (About 500, Avalanche), to the thrills of labour and birth (Gall and Milk), to postnatal depression (Mum), theatre has been putting motherhood on display as never before. That transformative experience of motherhood, now often referred to as matrescence, is getting a further treatment in (the) Woman as Jane Upton attempts a very ‘meta’ piece where a creative woman’s experience of motherhood is explored at the next level. M (Lizzy Watts) is writing a play about being a mother.
There is so much that is ‘tongue in cheek’ in this production, from its ethereal Julia Andrews-like opener to its surreal moments of conversations with sexual partners (past and present). Going beyond the aforementioned stories of motherhood, Upton is not afraid to be verbally graphic (a couple of people at my showing left early) and upend the norms of what is expected of a mother. Lizzy Watts is adept at handling the emotional range of experiences that her character endures. Jamie-Rose Mark is utterly remarkable in her multiple roles, sometimes scene after scene. She brings comic relief to the depths of despair, playing everything from the fun friend to a fellow mother in the maternity ward, M’s agent, a midwife, to M’s mother, by changing her posture, accents and inflections, and of course, a constant wardrobe turnaround. The male actors have some opportunity to shine, but mainly as a backdrop to the women (a refreshing change).
It is literally all hands on deck, sometimes just the hands as hooks, peaking through the blue streamer-style curtain. The set varied slightly, though not always making as much use of the stage as possible. A lot of the action seemed to be around the curtain, to take objects backstage. The titles were displayed on a panel above, with intriguing headings like “Top of the Pops/Self Harm”, “Getting Out/No Escape”, and “An Ending/A New Beginning (3)”, making visual the dichotomy of M’s experience as a mother. The (brief) visuals on the curtain continue the satiric style, showing graphics of fire as a background to the baby with red eyes lit up, and children released from being tied to a pole (Matt Powell). All very humorous.
At the conclusion, there are questions about whether a piece like this (that is, the one that M is writing) is for women, or for mothers, or women who go to theatre. Yet, for all the focus directed at (the) Woman, perhaps what I learned most about the beauty and the blood of motherhood in (the) Woman is more about the satellite experience of others towards a woman who becomes a mother - the ex, the husband, the friend, the fellow mothers, the midwife, and her own mother. One of the lines that was such an insight into the play was “I don’t want to write it in the three-act structure. I want to use the menstrual cycle as a structure. With its constant peaks and dips and optimism and rage, and this fragile fluctuating sense of self”. I think that our playwright has achieved something very close to that goal. I am glad that a play about motherhood was not called (the) Mother, but (the) Woman. The title allows this newly-formed creature to hold onto the Multitudes of who she is.
Written by Jane Upton
Performed by Josh Goulding, Jamie-Rose Mark, Andre Squire, Lizzy Watts
Directed by Angharad Jones
Designed by Sara Perks
Lighting Designer: Lily Woodford
Sound Designer: Bella Kear
Projection Design: Matt Powell
Photography: Charles Flint
