Showing @ Word of Mouth Café on 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th April

In the coziness of Leith’s bijou Word of Mouth Café is the warm and inviting gathering of mum lovers, all united to celebrate International Women’s Day in an intimate performance of Strange Theatre’s Mother, à la carte.

In a personal dissection of the delicate relationship with her own late mum, writer and performer Liberty Des Roches-Dueck makes us laugh and cry as she describes the highs and lows of going full circle from daughter to mother. Starting as a teenager, endlessly resentful of her mum’s strict omniscience, she moves on to the relentless struggle to live up to her mother-in-law’s unattainable perfection. After reflecting on the difficulties of trying and failing to be the ‘perfect’ woman, Roches-Dueck worries about her role as a mother and if her daughter will eventually feel the same way about her as she did about her mum.

The bohemian Word of Mouth Café makes for a unique and suitably homely setting – a very relaxed and highly intimate invitation into Roches-Dueck’s kitchen and most personal corner of her private life. Directed by Caitlin Skinner, the action is close enough to see the fine lines around Roches-Dueck’s smiling eyes making emotional involvement inescapable, and the subtle encouragement to indulge in the tea and bread on each table link beautifully to the symbolic props of the play.

This is an honest piece of theatre which, whilst celebrating the love and devotion of mothers, doesn’t make light of what can often be the most volatile of relationships. The pain of Roches-Dueck’s constant feelings of never being good enough – of never hearing her mother say how proud she is of her – are heart-wrenching, whilst her dying mother’s reaction to her daughter’s coinciding pregnancy news is a real tear-jerker.

Such a truthful account of the juxtapositions of mother-daughter relationships only goes to reinforce how precious and loved our mums are, no matter the difficulties of the past. The company’s next performance on Mother’s Day shouldn’t be missed, and is the ideal occasion to reflect on and appreciate your mum.