by Sean Meyer

There aren’t many performers who get to tell a story to audience, both new and old, over the span of nearly 20 years.

For the performers in Mom’s the Word: For Crying out Loud — running March 19 to April 6 at the Grand Theatre — some of whom include the original writers of the play, the show offers not only insights into parenthood, but also a perspective on how no matter things change, they also stay the same.

“It is remarkable how the stuff that is 20 years old still works. We have perspective now on the baby stuff. My children are grown, they are 21 and 25, but I guess I am starting to experience what women who are now my age are feeling when they first saw it,” said Barbara Pollard, who was among the group that first brought Mom’s the Word to life in 1995.

Photo: David Cooper Photography/For London Community News
Mom’s the Word: For Crying Out Loud, including (from left) Jill Daum, Barbara Pollard and Deborah Williams, is running at the Grand Theatre from March 19 to April 6 2013.

“I don’t care how sophisticated or technologically savvy you become, babies stay the same. Human beings are still fully dependent for a long time.”

The original moms are back in this latest installment in the Mom’s the Word series. From the terrible twos to the terrifying teens, the audience is invited to experience the frustrations, embarrassments and joys of parenthood. This is the fourth time Moms’ the Word has come to London, twice with the original show, and once with the sequel, Mom’s the Word 2: Unhinged.

Joining Pollard for this story are Alison Kelly, Lindsay Burns, Jill Daum, and Deborah Williams.

For Kelly, parenthood was too often told from happy side, the family-focused cartoons, which never showed just how difficult raising a child can be.

“They never looked at the dark side. They never looked at that time at 2 a.m. when your baby has been crying for what seems like 24 hours, you say, I hate that child,” Kelly said. “When we would admit those things on stage, people would say thank you. I’m not alone; I’m not insane.”

Mom’s the Word has seen more than 2,500 performances to over one million people throughout five continents and 17 countries. No matter where it has been performed, Kelly said there is always a sense of familiarity among the women in the audience.

“When women looked up there (on stage) and are able to see their story up there, it just is a connection,” Kelly said. “It feels often like we are sitting around telling a story and the audience completes that circle, they just don’t talk as much as we do. There is a real sense of that’s my life up there.”

Pollard said the age of the audience doesn’t impact that connection either. In fact, she said women who were in their 70s and 80s are almost immediately taken right back to when they had their own babies.

“You don’t forget that. The stuff still works, which is what is remarkable,” Pollard said. “It doesn’t stop having an impact because human nature remains true.”

Kelly said they have experienced people coming back to their shows multiple times as the story has unfolded. She expects that trend to continue in a city that has seen the story of Mom’s the Word unfold over nearly two decades.

“For a small city, to have a theatre of that size and caliber is pretty phenomenal. We don’t have a theatre like that in Vancouver, not of that age and richness. It is really exciting to be back here,” Kelly said. “It is very different when you are a parent; you get more of it. You can enjoy it, but a lot of it; you don’t get on that visceral level of knowing exactly what it is.”

While the story has developed from early parenthood to the teenage years and even into adulthood, Pollard said there is something that never changes for the performers up on stage.

And while many shows have run without the original cast, and many that have, Pollard said there is always an energy that comes from making people laugh.

“It is reviving, it is replenishing. When you make people laugh, you get back far more than you give,” Pollard said. “In performing you are putting out a vast amount of energy. But you can literally see people revive, it is a marvelous thing making people laugh.”

Mom’s the Word: For Crying Out Loud is running at the Grand Theatre from March 19 to April 6 2013. For tickets, visit www.grandtheatre.com or call the box office at 519-672-8800.

This article first appeared on the London Community News website on March 20 2013.