A Comedic Take On A Twisted Relationship Comes To Atlanta
Joanna Daniel and Doug Graham play a mother and son in Morna Pearson’s play “The Artist Man and the Mother Woman” with Aris Theatre.
JESSICA FERN HUNT
Aris Theatre is usually dedicated to the art of Irish theater, but they are scandalously traversing water and shore – and a difficult accent – to bring a Scottish play to Atlanta theatergoers.
It’s Scottish playwright Morna Pearson’s play “The Artist Man and the Mother Woman.” Along with assault, stalking and murder, the play features a mother-son relationship that goes a bit beyond an appropriate amount of affection.
“Morna Pearson is on record as saying she is interested in writing plays that deal with inappropriate relationships. That’s her raison d’etre as an author,” said Kathleen McManus, the director of the play.
It’s about an art teacher who lives with his mother. The mother doesn’t want her son growing up to fast, but he decides one day to advertise in the local paper for a “wifey.” He then enters “a frightening world of adulthood and female companionship where attraction manifests itself in warped and disturbing ways,” says McManus.
Despite these themes, the play is a comedy.
Aris Theatre also stays true to the Scottish voice. The play features the Doric dialect from northern Scotland.
“The Artist Man and the Mother Woman” opens this Friday, with a preview on Thursday, and runs through June 21.
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