Written and performed by solo artist Sonia Jackson, MAMAISMS offers wit and wisdom to parents everywhere. “Because I said so;” “You know better than that;” “Not while you’re living under my roof.” Do those words sound familiar? Because they should if you were raised in a family at some time in the last 100 years – or more. Or if you created a family of your very own. Each mother is different, and yet mothers are also the same on lots of levels.
MAMAISMS debuted at the Whitefire Theatre during SOLOFEST 2019, the largest solo theater festival on the West Coast. But this is 2020, and the pandemic has struck. Theaters across the U.S. have been closed since March, leaving the large American theater audience craving productions that could only be offered in a theater. Now that has changed, as online broadcasts have become available to the public.
Soloist Sonia Jackson was a little older than an ingénue when she entered show business – making her the perfect actor to focus on some introspective but also very funny events in her life – and yours. Her background includes commercials to pay the bills, improvisation groups to hone her comedic skills, and even the London Shakespeare Studio to develop her acting chops. She pulls her whole life together into one thoughtful piece with MAMAISMS. With the assistance of talented director Jessica Lynn Johnson, who also helped with the show’s development, MAMAISMS has turned into a timeless bit of family fare.
This is a story for everyone who was ever part of a family. Sonia Jackson has a huge range of multi-generational family stories to amuse and enlighten. She manages to embody playful children, teens learning to fly, bumbling but loving parents, and doting grandparents – those lucky individuals who get to spoil their cranky grandchildren…and then go home to relax. Sonia tackles issues that are funny and sad: Is there a dark side to mamas? What about whupping the kids? Can we learn from our mistakes? Is this a high tech, low touch society? The intimate online setting allows audiences to enjoy the comforts of home coupled with the chance to stop, listen, and think.
MAMAISMS was first presented online at 6 p.m. (PST) on Sunday, 11/8/20. Tickets were available online for $15.99.
Splash Magazines
Be the first to comment