Secret Life of a Mother
A playwright writes an exposé of modern motherhood: a confessional piece about her own darkly funny and taboo-breaking truths. One of her oldest friends, an actress, tells this story, and through it, her own motherhood secrets start to surface.
This isn’t mothers as the butts of jokes, or the villains, or the perfect angels of the house. Secret Life of a Mother reveals what two women are actually experiencing: the raw and transcendent and untold secrets of pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, and mothering. This is motherhood for the 21st century: hallucinatory, gothic, and empowered.
credits
Written by Hannah Moscovitch with Maev Beaty and Ann-Marie Kerr
Co-Creator Marinda de Beer
Co-Creator/Director Ann-Marie Kerr
Co-Creator/Playwright Hannah Moscovitch
Co-Creator/Actor Maev Beaty
Stage Manager Natasha Bean Smith
Scenic Designer Camellia Koo
Lighting Designer Leigh Ann Vardy
Original Production Associate Lighting Designer Kaileigh Krysztofiak
Projection Designer Cameron Davis
Original Production Assistant Projection Designer Laura Warren
Sound Designer Debashis Sinha
Costume Designer Erika Connor
Production Manager Wesley McKenzie
Original Production Props Builder Haley Reap
Original Production Vocal Coach Fides Krusker
Original Production Rigging Consultant Peter Benedetti (Upstage Fabrication Inc.)
Aerial Movement Coach Holly Treddenick (Femmes du Feu)
Creative Producer for The Theatre Centre Sascha Cole
Producer for The Theatre Centre Alexis Eastman
Developed in Residency at The Theatre Centre.
With support from The Canada Council for the Arts, The Toronto Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council, and with Residency’s lead sponsor, BMO Financial.
—The Globe and Mail
★★★ 1/2 (out of 4)
“honest and risky”
“honest and risky”
—The Toronto Star
“Secret Life of a Mother is the rare, transcendent play that proves the power of theatre. Simply put, it’s a masterpiece”
—Eligible Magazine
Suvendrini Lena
Writer and Creator
Leah Cherniak
Co-Creator, Co-Director
Franco Boni
Director
Ravi Jain
Co-Director
Shawn Kerwin
Set & Costume Designer
Shawn Kerwin
Set & Costume Designer
Tim Lindsay
Sound Designer
Rebecca Picherak
Lighting Designer
Melissa Joakim
Stage Manager and Touring Lighting Designer
Melissa Joakim
Stage Manager and Touring Lighting Designer
- Toronto // The Theatre Centre (premiere) // October 2018
- Toronto // Crow’s Theatre // February 2020
Developed in Residency at The Theatre Centre by Suvendrini Lena and Co-creators Leah Cherniak and Trevor Schwellnus with Lyon Smith. With support from lead Residency sponsor BMO Financial, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and The Wuchien Michael Than Foundation.
“Secret life of a mother puts the uncensored female body centre stage”