Sons & Mothers hits the road

“The Sons” (L-R) Ricky Samai, Ben Wishart, Duncan Luke, Ryan Rowland, Kym Mackenzie, Damien Turbin and Alirio Zavarce. Photo by Alex Frayne.

After the runaway success of Sons & Mothers’ premiere season in the 2012 Adelaide Fringe festival, and after foot stomping standing ovations in its 2013 Space season, No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability (NSA) is proud to announce that in 2014 Performing Lines will deliver a national tour of Sons & Mothers through the Road Work initiative.

Written and directed by NSA artistic associate Alirio Zavarce (in collaboration with the performers), Sons & Mothers is a humorous and poignant look into the lives of six men and their relationships with their mothers. These are love stories made all the more potent because of the disabilities the men live with and their humbling takes on discriminations they’ve faced.

Two Sons in the cast live at home with their Mothers, two live independently but rely on their Mothers, and two have lost their Mothers. On stage, Duncan Luke, Kym Mackenzie, Ryan Rowland, Richard Samai, Damien Turbin and Ben Wishart create intimate and authentic portraits of this primal relationship.

NSA artistic director PJ Rose recalls, “It took seven years to create Sons & Mothers: five years for the idea to gestate, two years to develop, three weeks to rehearse and two weeks to perform. In those brief two weeks, Sons & Mothers became the buzz of the 2012 Adelaide Fringe festival. Five-star reviews and great word of mouth led to sold out houses and top Fringe Awards.

“A magic energy continues to animate this unusual show that appeals to audiences of all ages. As one reviewer put it, ‘this show appeals to anyone who’s ever had a mother’, and we are thrilled that audiences all over Australia will get to see it.”

The tour begins with three performances at the Darwin Festival on August 14th and 15th. Over the following 10 weeks, Sons & Mothers will perform in regional venues in each state and territory. The tour concludes in South Australia with final performances at Renmark’s Chaffey Theatre and Port Pirie’s Northern Festival Centre from October 18-22. A feature film of the creative development of Sons & Mothers made by local production company POP Pictures premiered at the 2013 Adelaide Film Festival. Also called Sons & Mothers, that film will be screened alongside the play at selected venues on tour.

A complete list of tour dates and venues can be found on the No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability website.