Stage: Mothering
Award-winning Monica Bauer visits Brighton Fringe
Award-winning American playwright Monica Bauer will be travelling to Brighton Fringe this month to see the UK premiere of her play The Maternal Instinct, which is being performed at The Dukebox Theatre. “I had such an amazing experience last year in Edinburgh, and so many there had high praise for Brighton Fringe! I can’t wait to see this brand new version of The Maternal Instinct, now set in Cambridge, England. My life-long fascination with British literature and drama is finally paying off.”
The brand new UK-based version of the script has been edited during the rehearsal process with input from cast and crew, and all suggestions have been sent to Bauer for final approval. The Dukebox Theatre venue manager and producer of the show, Mill Goble, said, “I’m so excited that Monica is making the journey to Brighton to see the show, and attend final rehearsals. We’ve worked closely with her to make the script more accessible for a British audience – cutting references to baseball and WASPS, and altering certain speech patterns or phrases so they’re more in-keeping with British ways of speaking. I read this play back in September and just knew I wanted to put it onstage, and the Brighton Fringe seems the perfect place for it to receive its UK premiere.”
The Maternal Instinctwas awarded third place in a competition of New Works for Young Women in the USA, and Bauer has also won various awards including Outstanding Playwriting (Midtown International Theatre Festival), Emerging Playwright (Urban Stages), and Audience Favourite (Short Attention Span PlayFest).
Directed by Chris Hislop (nominated for Best Theatre Production at Brighton Fringe 2009), the cast have been drawn from both London and Brighton, including Bethan Clark who was a Spotlight Prize Nominee in 2009, and Lia Burge, who has previously appeared at Chichester Festival Theatre and Glyndebourne. The remaining roles are filled by Charlotte Donachie, Bob Gilchrist, and Casserley Cielo, with assistant direction by Hope Woolven.
The play focuses on a recently married lesbian couple, Sarah and Lilian. Sarah is eager to start a family, but Lilian, a geneticist and recovering alcoholic, foresees problems with finding a suitable donor, and her own ability to bring up a child.
The Maternal Instinct, The Dukebox Theatre, 3 Waterloo Street, Hove, BN3 1AQ
Wednesday 29 May – Thursday 30 May, 8pm
Friday 31 May – Saturday 1 June, 7.30pm, £8/£6
Box office: 01273 917272, www.wegottickets.com/thedukeboxtheatre or www.brightonfringe.org
