Candice Fox’s show is not for the faint-hearted. It is an emotionally intense, complicated depiction of processing a lifetime of trauma that is the result of having a mother who is an alcoholic.
A photo of Candice Fox’s mother sits in the corner of the stage, smiling out at the audience, surrounded by candles. Meanwhile Fox, in her one-woman-show, walks us through the five stages of grief she has gone through to be able to accept the fact that although her mother is still alive, to Fox, she is dead.
The five stages of grief feel like a slightly trite structure to follow. As the narrative leaps around to follow the five stages, you’re left wondering where exactly you are in Fox’s story. When Fox goes on a tangent about female rage for the (you guessed it) anger stage of grief, her comments about unrealistic beauty standards seem out of place. Fox’s story is compelling; she just needs to focus on it.
Similarly, Fox’s acting is powerful. She commands the space she is in, and the physicality of her performance works well. Yet the show is interrupted by her use of multimedia projection behind her. She lets the audience read definitions off the PowerPoint style slides behind her, rather than explaining them herself. She projects an illustration of a beach with Santa Claus to let the audience know that she is now in Hawaii at Christmas time. The multimedia use feels lazy, and rather than adding to the performance, it takes the audience out of the moment.
Ultimately, while some of the delivery of the show needs work, the story and actress behind it make it a powerful 60 minutes nonetheless. Fox is raw, intense, and clever and you feel for her throughout the show. If you’re looking for a moving theatre piece, this show might be for you. if you’re looking for dark comedy, not so much. Cheers, Mom packs an emotional punch, if not a very funny one.
Cheers, Mom! Eulogy for a Living Parent is running until 17 August at C Venues – Aquila Studio.
Tickets available here.
Image provided to The Student by Cheers, Mom! Eulogy to a Living Parent.