Felicity Houlbrooke stars in the UK tour of Charlotte Keatley’s My Mother Said I Never Should. Set in Manchester, Oldham and London, My Mother Said I Never Should is a poignant, bittersweet story about love, jealousy and the price of freedom.
My Mother Said I Never Should Tour Dates
You’re appearing in the tour of My Mother Said I Never Should, what can you tell us about it?
It’s a drama about four generations of women in the same family over the course of the twentieth century. It charts the mother-daughter relationships from one generation to the next and shines a light into some of the interesting dynamics within family life.
Tell us about your character?
Rosie is the youngest of the four women in the play, being born in 1971. Jackie becomes pregnant with Rosie whilst at Art College and, as a result, it is decided that Margaret (Jackie’s Mother) will raise her as her own. Rosie has an incredibly outgoing and enthusiastic personality and isn’t frightened of saying what she thinks. As she grows up in the play, she develops a keen interest in supporting environmental groups and becomes a passionate budding activist.
What do you like most about Rosie?
I love her frankness and how she expresses exactly what she’s thinking and feeling without restraint. I’m also drawn to the sense of possibility fizzing within her. She has enormous passion, heart and is very bright. She takes great interest in the world around her and fully immerses herself in experiencing it.
How would you describe the structure of the play?
Michael, our director, calls it a ‘kaleidoscopic’ time structure because we jump around in terms of dates from scene to scene. This means that you quite often know what is about to happen next, before it actually happens, which only serves to strengthen the drama.
Why do you think that these themes are important to be covered in theatre?
I think the play can resonate with a huge number of people. Themes of love, family and the delicate and shifting relationships that lie within them, transcend generations and form part of the human experience. In addition, the notion of ‘family’ is continually evolving. The exploration of the mother/daughter relationship and its influence on the women in the play serves to examine the choices each generation has available to them as society changes.
No one-generation has the same experience as the other; the play captures this beautifully. It showcases the tenacity of the women, adapting to these societal changes and challenges, but also highlights how their options and choices have expanded with time. Despite being written in the 80s, taking a stark look at it today also serves to highlight what has not changed and how much still has the potential to change for future generations.
What are you most looking forward to about touring?
It will be a privilege to be able to experience so many different towns and cities in a short space of time. I love wandering around new places. It will also be wonderful to meet lots of people and bring the play to different audiences, who have different experiences and responses, every week.
What would you say to anyone thinking of coming to see My Mother Said I Never Should?
Come and see it! It’s a funny, entertaining and gut-wrenching play that hopefully appeals to a wide range of people, not just women. It explores the changing societal landscape over the 20th Century and its influence on life and what it means to be part of a family.
