Mum’s the word as soap stars take the stage

Feb 14 2008

THREE talented soap stars are set to entertain a packed audience at Hamilton Town House next month.

Mum’s The Word has played five record-breaking UK tours and a West End run and the award-winning, sell-out theatrical phenomenon is on the road again, liberating, enlightening and educating, but mainly just washing the secret, funny, dirty laundry of motherhood in public.

The all-star cast features Bernie Nolan (Brookside, The Bill), Sarah White (Brookside) and Pauline Fleming (Brookside, Coronation Street).

The production has received critical acclaim and attracted sell-out audiences throughout Australia, Canada, and across Europe. It hits Hamilton from Thursday to Saturday, February 14-16, at 7.30pm.

In 1993 in Vancouver, Canada, six women who had once been exciting, glamorous and professional actors were now exhausted, bedraggled amateur mothers with 10 children among them.

They decided to get together to write a show about motherhood.

They had a slot in a Vancouver Festival called “Women in View” and so they had a deadline.

They met regularly on Saturday morning without their children.

Suddenly, their first performance was just three weeks away.

Although they had nothing on paper, they felt enormously better about their children, their skills as mothers and their lives in general.

Luckily, in the ancient tradition of oral history, they remembered each other’s stories and Mum’s The Word was born.

Bernie Nolan returns to the role of Robin after the hugely successful 2007 tour.

From her days as lead singer with The Nolans to her stint in uniform in The Bill, Bernie has become one of Britain’s most popular entertainers.

Bernie came to motherhood relatively late. She said: “I thought it was going to pass me by. I lost a child, which was terrible for us all, then I had a miscarriage, but we now have Erin, who is just simply the light of my life.”

Sarah White plays Deborah, a role she played in the show’s 2004 UK tour.

Sarah delighted television audiences with her portrayal of night-club owner Bev McLoughlin in Channel Four’s Brookside.

Her daughter Ruby appears to be following in her famous mum’s footsteps.

Sarah describes her as lively, full of fun and very energetic, with a finely developed flair for the dramatic.

Pauline Fleming takes on the role of Alison. Her TV credits include Heartbeat, Doctors and Nice Guy Eddie.

She played Auntie Val in Brookside and then Penny King, Mike Baldwin’s live-in girlfriend, in Coronation Street.

Tickets for the show, priced £18.50 and £16.50 each, are available from the box office on 01698 452299.