From writer and performer Marie Hamilton (Polly (The Heartbreak Opera)) comes a new one-woman cabaret, Madonna on the Rocks, heading to London and Brighton this spring. This hilarious tragicomedy examines the struggle to pursue your art, or any career at all, and be a truly present parent at the same time. It’s about maternal rage, responsibility, and our fragile egos. Madonna on the Rocks is heading to VAULT Festival and Greenwich Theatre in February, and Brighton Fringe in May.
As a child, Marina dreamed of being a big star, but now that she has her own child she wonders if it’s time to throw her dreams in the nappy bin. Marina is caught up in society’s ideal of motherhood (as well as her own), wondering if following her dreams will see her labelled as selfish, absent – a bad mother.
Show creator Hamilton says, This is my most personal show to date, digging into the darkest most tender places in my heart. But after hundreds of hours of walking round cold parks with other new parents, shaking maracas to “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and wanting to bang our heads against a brick wall, I know that so many people feel the same way. Raising children is terrifying and beautiful and boring and brilliant all at the same time. It can be incredibly lonely and you can think you’re going completely insane. I hope this show will be a beam of light in the darkness, a joyous, hilarious celebration of all those contradictions, of all those who have gone before and lit our way, and those yet to come.
This dark, empowering and very funny show examines the beautiful and awful contradictions of motherhood in the 21st century and the expectations society can place on new mothers (and that new mothers can place on themselves). This fun rollercoaster of a cabaret through the hilarity and banality of motherhood invites audiences to tackle their own prejudices, reflect on their relationships and fight for a fairer future for everyone.
Madonna on the Rocks is written and performed by Marie Hamilton (Polly (The Heartbreak Opera), Bristol Old Vid and Greenwich Theatre; we don’t have to do this, District Theatre), directed by Fringe First winner Hildegard Ryan (Chicken, Summerhall; Frigid, Underbelly; Casualty, BBC) and composed by Cameron Mackintosh Award winner Ben Osborn (Letters from the Border, Nonostar Records; Polly (The Heartbreak Opera), Bristol Old Vic and Greenwich Theatre).
