MAIDEN MOTHER CRONE
Sugarcoated, Written & Performed by Jen Ponton; Directed by Tessa Slovis
The Longer My Mother is Dead, the More I Like Her, Written & Performed by Deborah Unger; Directed by Dominick LaRuffa, Jr.
Presented by The Flea Theater
The Flea | 20 Thomas Street, New York, NY 10007
February 12th - 23rd
At Emerson College, I was introduced to the notion of people writing and performing their own work. I knew professionals did it, and even got to be a production assistant on a Spaulding Gray show, but I didn’t know anybody could do it. And, it turned out everybody and their mother did it. I started to ask, “Is it a woman in angst piece?” since I saw way too many pieces about sobbing for 30 minutes. That is not to lessen what happened to the various performers, but I was starting to get depressed. It was much later, in a class at the Actors Studio that my professor gave the note to my classmate, “They don’t want to see you wallow. They want to see you get through it.” The notion of getting to the other side is what makes these two plays so wonderful.
Both Jen Ponton and Deborah Unger are masterful writers and performers, consummate storytellers.
We meet Jen at 7 years old. It’s her birthday. We follow her through ups, downs and discoveries. We get to know her. We get to love her. We want to protect her. And we want to see her win. She goes to dark places, but it’s always on a journey toward the light. She is brave, fierce and funny. And, she is courageous. Jen brings us into her world, and we’re happy to be there.
Deborah has a difficult relationship with her mother. In her piece, she plays both herself and her mother – perhaps allowing herself to hear her mother say some of the things she never heard in real life. “Didn’t she know I was proud of her?” It is tremendously difficult to play both sides of a conversation at once and do them both justice, but not for Deborah. And though we have a strong idea of where her story ends – the title may give us a hint - we are fully drawn in and engaged every step of the way.
Each of these pieces could stand alone, but it’s a brilliant choice to bring them together. They complement one another, and both directors have made them fit nicely into an intimate space. It’s work at this level that inspires others to create. And should definitely inspire folks to get to The Flea to see these while they can!
Review by Nicole Jesson.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on Feb 15th, 2025. All rights reserved.