My Mother Said I Never Should
Encyclopedia
My Mother Said I Never Should is a play in three acts by Charlotte Keatley
. directed by Michael Attenborough and Brigid Larmour
My Mother Said I Never Should was written in 1985 and was first produced at the Contact Theatre
in Manchester on 25 February 1987. A revised edition premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
on 23 February 1989 and in a recent revival premiered on 29 September 2009 at the Watford Palace Theatre
. The play made a welcome return to the North West when The Dukes http://www.dukes-lancaster.org/ in Lancaster produced My Mother Said I Never Should in February 2010.
This play is about the difficult relationships between mothers and daughters. A story which explores the lives and relationships of four generations of women: Doris, Margaret, Jackie and Rosie. Their loves, expectations and choices, are set against the huge social changes of the twentieth century. When Jackie falls pregnant without a husband,with Rosie she is unable to cope and hands over the baby to her mother, Margaret. This play looks at the consequences of this secret and each women's opinion on it. The play has a minimalistic set and is deliberately unrealistic. One of the most unrealistic things in the play is the wasteground scenes where all characters become children. In these scenes, Doris becomes the youngest child at 5, with Rosie at 8 and Jackie and Margaret both 9. Some viewers have said that "it works backwards on itself which can get rather confusing."[Who?] The scenes do not follow in chronological order, so in one scene Margaret will be a young child during the war being comforted by her mother Doris and in the next Jackie will be a child visiting her grandma Doris. This can also be slightly confusing because it is not specifically mentioned how old the characters are in each scene, but mostly it is very self-explanatory.
The main themes of the play are relationships and motherhood. It addresses the issues of teenage pregnancy, career prioritisation and single motherhood. It is also about how the different generations break free from their parents' traditions and culture.
Margaret is caught in the middle in between her mother and her daughter, Jackie who had a daughter (Rosie) despite being unmarried.
The figure is Doris, now an adult and singing to a racy George Formby song on the radio. Her daughter, Margaret, aged eight; surprises her by shouting 'knickers' from beneath the piano. Doris insists on being called 'Mother' rather than 'Mummy', and pushes Margaret to practise the piano rather than answering her inquisitive, lively child's questions about the war and whether her parents say their prayers. The next scene shows Doris as a grandmother with Jackie, Margaret's daughter; now affectionate and lenient, by contrast to her relationship with Margaret.
Charlotte Keatley
Charlotte Keatley is an English playwright. She studied drama at the Victoria University of Manchester and as a postgraduate at the University of Leeds. She has worked as a journalist for Performance magazine, the Yorkshire Post, the Financial Times and the BBC...
. directed by Michael Attenborough and Brigid Larmour
My Mother Said I Never Should was written in 1985 and was first produced at the Contact Theatre
Contact Theatre
-Contact:Contact is a multi-disciplinary arts venue in Manchester. Originally a traditional theatre Contact was rebranded in 1999 as a space specialising in producing work and providing opportunities for young people.-History:...
in Manchester on 25 February 1987. A revised edition premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
on 23 February 1989 and in a recent revival premiered on 29 September 2009 at the Watford Palace Theatre
Watford Palace Theatre
Watford Palace Theatre, opened in 1908, is an Edwardian Grade II listed building on Clarendon Road, Watford.- Refurbishment :In September 2004 the theatre re-opened after a two year £8.8million Lottery funded refurbishment, which included more public space, two bars, a daytime café, air cooling and...
. The play made a welcome return to the North West when The Dukes http://www.dukes-lancaster.org/ in Lancaster produced My Mother Said I Never Should in February 2010.
This play is about the difficult relationships between mothers and daughters. A story which explores the lives and relationships of four generations of women: Doris, Margaret, Jackie and Rosie. Their loves, expectations and choices, are set against the huge social changes of the twentieth century. When Jackie falls pregnant without a husband,with Rosie she is unable to cope and hands over the baby to her mother, Margaret. This play looks at the consequences of this secret and each women's opinion on it. The play has a minimalistic set and is deliberately unrealistic. One of the most unrealistic things in the play is the wasteground scenes where all characters become children. In these scenes, Doris becomes the youngest child at 5, with Rosie at 8 and Jackie and Margaret both 9. Some viewers have said that "it works backwards on itself which can get rather confusing."[Who?] The scenes do not follow in chronological order, so in one scene Margaret will be a young child during the war being comforted by her mother Doris and in the next Jackie will be a child visiting her grandma Doris. This can also be slightly confusing because it is not specifically mentioned how old the characters are in each scene, but mostly it is very self-explanatory.
The main themes of the play are relationships and motherhood. It addresses the issues of teenage pregnancy, career prioritisation and single motherhood. It is also about how the different generations break free from their parents' traditions and culture.
Margaret is caught in the middle in between her mother and her daughter, Jackie who had a daughter (Rosie) despite being unmarried.
Plot
The play begins in the Wasteground, where the four girls play as contemporaries - Doris appears aged five, Margaret six, and Jackie and Rosie at eight. They show disgust for the idea of little girls being made of 'sugar and spice and all things nice' and then put forth the idea of 'killing their Mummy'. Jettisoning the younger Doris, hey are wary of ingredients for their 'curse' being too real (such as harelip) or too fantastical; and then call upon the spirit of their Granny, fleeing as a figure moves upstage towards them.The figure is Doris, now an adult and singing to a racy George Formby song on the radio. Her daughter, Margaret, aged eight; surprises her by shouting 'knickers' from beneath the piano. Doris insists on being called 'Mother' rather than 'Mummy', and pushes Margaret to practise the piano rather than answering her inquisitive, lively child's questions about the war and whether her parents say their prayers. The next scene shows Doris as a grandmother with Jackie, Margaret's daughter; now affectionate and lenient, by contrast to her relationship with Margaret.
Roles
----| Roles | Premiere Cast, 25 February 1987Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... , Contact Theatre Contact Theatre -Contact:Contact is a multi-disciplinary arts venue in Manchester. Originally a traditional theatre Contact was rebranded in 1999 as a space specialising in producing work and providing opportunities for young people.-History:... |
Revised Version, 23 February 1989London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... , Royal Court Theatre Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre... |
Modern Revival, 29 September 2009Watford Watford Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban... , Watford Palace Theatre Watford Palace Theatre Watford Palace Theatre, opened in 1908, is an Edwardian Grade II listed building on Clarendon Road, Watford.- Refurbishment :In September 2004 the theatre re-opened after a two year £8.8million Lottery funded refurbishment, which included more public space, two bars, a daytime café, air cooling and... |
Qehs Drama version, 2011Hexham Hexham Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was... , Qehs Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doris Partington | Joan Campion | Elizabeth Bradley Elizabeth Bradley Elizabeth Bradley was an English actress, perhaps most famous for playing battle-axe Maud Grimes in the fictional soap Coronation Street.... |
Eve Pearce Eve Pearce Eve Pearce is a Scottish actress. She has performed in many Royal Shakespeare Company productions.-Early life:Eve Pearce was born on 17 April 1929 in Aberdeen to a very poor family and was brought up in a one-roomed tenement, her mother dying when she was seven years old. When she was twelve her... |
Natasha Pritchard |
| Margaret Bradley | Jenny Howe | Sheila Reid Sheila Reid Sheila Reid is a Scottish actress, best known for her performance as Madge Barron in Benidorm.-Career:Reid has had a long and distinguished career in theatre, film and television, and worked with Laurence Olivier at the Royal National Theatre. In 1980, she played the long-suffering wife of Trevor... |
Abigail Thaw Abigail Thaw Abigail Thaw is a British actress. She was born in London to actor John Thaw and his first wife, Sally Alexander. Her stepmother is actress Sheila Hancock... |
Fay Taylor |
| Jackie Metcalfe | Jane Paton | Jane Gurnett Jane Gurnett Jane Gurnett is a British actress best known for her leading roles in British TV series Casualty , Dangerfield and the second incarnation of Crossroads .-Career:... |
laire Brown | Sarah Hope |
| Rosie Metcalfe | Michele Wade | Shirley Henderson Shirley Henderson Shirley Henderson is a Scottish actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire .-Early life:... |
Katherine Manners Katherine Manners Katherine Manners is a British actor. She has appeared in Coram Boy at the Royal National Theatre and in the 2008 docudrama A Woman in Love and War: Vera Brittain as Brittain herself.... |
Caitlin Coleman |
| Directed by | Brigid Larmour | Michael Attenborough Michael Attenborough The Hon. Michael John Attenborough is a successful English theatre director. His parents are the actors Richard Attenborough, Baron Attenborough and Sheila Sim, Lady Attenborough... |
Brigid Larmour |