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Soho theatre, LondonThis play daringly switches tone as it follows three mothers and explores exhaustion, panic and feelings of inadequacyThe title of Mum – a fertile-with-ideas play by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, writer of the excellent Shakespeare spin-off Emilia (2018) – is singular but refers to three mothers: Nina, whose baby Ben is three months old; Nina’s own mum; and Pearl, Nina’s mother-in-law by virtue (or is it?) of husband David, a pivotal but unseen figure in a play that feminises Philip Larkin’s line: “Man hands on misery to man.”Starting from the first night sleep-starved Nina allows Ben to stay away with David and his mum, the play severely questions the concept of “natural mother”, suggesting a well-meaning conspiracy of initiated parents and natal professionals to suppress the fact that exhaustion, panic and inadequacy are very common responses. Nina’s nightmare – the right word for some scenes – is that people have told her, or she has heard, what she wants to hear. Continue reading...