Have you ever watched a musical starring a heavily pregnant woman in a very intimate venue? I hadn’t either so I was in for a big surprise!
Writer and performer Marie Hamilton brought a unique cabaret show, Madonna on the Rocks, to the teeny tent (Squeak) at Brighton Fringe, and I felt much safer in the packed-out show thinking that there would be a medical professional in the audience in case her waters broke!
What is Madonna on the Rocks at Brighton Fringe about?
Madonna on the Rocks follows the life of Marina who is struggling with being a new mum, the punch comes as she openly muses about her lost life and independence, informing the audience how having her child has knocked her career goals into the park.
Caught up in society’s ideal of motherhood, the show continued with a deeply personal monologue where we were confronted with Marina’s (Marie’s too?) relationship with her own mother. Playing both roles, the bond is clearly fractious as the audience soaks up the contradictions of what makes a good mother in the 21st century.
Desperate to pursue her career whilst questioning if the banalities of being a stay-at-home mum, will label her as a bad mother, Marina keeps the mood lifted by the jaunty show tunes.
Set to become a role model for any mums who resonate with the struggle to be an artist, or to have any sort of career at all, this performance shows that both are possible, and we are all human after all.
For more information on the uber-talented Marie Hamilton, check her website here.
