‘Not Your Superwoman’, The Bush Theatre’s Take on Modern Motherhood

One of the most anticipated plays of the year, ‘Not Your Superwoman’, officially started its run at The Bush Theatre last week. With most of the dates between now and its closing date 1st November already sold out, I was very excited to have the opportunity to attend the Press Night viewing. 

Led by critically acclaimed actresses Letitia Wright (Black Panther) and Golda Rosheuvel (Bridgerton), we are taken on a journey to the sunny landscapes of Guyana - the country of heritage for middle-aged Joyce and her (seemingly estranged) 30 year-old daughter Erica. Apprehensive about spending this much time together alone, they meander through the island scattering Erica’s grandmother’s ashes, as requested by her before she passed and as a means for Erica to reconnect with her fondly loved matriarch. During this expedition, they discover more about each other and rehash important events of the past, with regular flashbacks to both of their childhood’s to help fill in the gaps to the viewers knowledge of their personal stories. 

As someone with ‘mummy issues’ this play hit very hard for me. From both characters’ perspectives, they explored the ways in which they felt failed by their mother. Erica had an awkward and estranged relationship with her mother, wanting a deeper emotional connection beyond the obligations of parenthood. This is an experience that isn’t even exclusive to a mother/daughter relationship, as many black diasporan adults would agree. Joyce was unable to navigate her relationship with Erica and was in fact channeling a lot of her own mother’s habits of emotional avoidance and dictatorship. “As long as you’ve got a roof over your head that’s all that matters” - parents see duty of care as the only thing that makes good parenting.  It was an explicit depiction of the fact that we are more like our parents than we like to think we are, and there is a lot of work that is required to break the cycle. During the play, multiple questions rose to the surface: What is ‘good’ motherhood? How does our experience of being mothered impact who we become when we’re mothers? How do we know (as women) when we are ready to be a mother? 

Despite the fact that the play was through the lens of a Caribbean context, there were many relatable moments that anyone black, or a woman, or neither - could laugh along to or relate with. From stealing the nice glasses from the plane’s business class to blaming the misfortune of the family on an alleged curse that was put on the family’s lineage, writer Emma Dennis Edwards did an amazing job of balancing humour with seriousness, with the transition not being too harsh at any point and always an opportunity to bring light back into the darker moments in the play. The first 15-20 minutes of the play I pretty much spent laughing at the comedic timing of the actors and insanely witty one-liners: “I was watching a documentary… it was a TikTok video actually”.

Lynette Linton’s (director of Shifters) handprints are all over this production. If you’ve watched Shifters, you’ll know there are elements of time travelling and also more abstract forms of storytelling via lighting and screens, as well as sound and I must say - Linton nailed it again. The visual elements of the show were engaging, with a focus on the background screen to display visuals that differentiate between time and location. There was very little on the set itself, beside a pair of chairs and some suitcases that only have importance in the first few opening scenes. I love a good set and with a cast this prolific, I feel like they deserved more to work with on stage. Other productions that I’ve seen at the Bush, such as Miss Myrtle’s Garden, show a perfect use of set when space is restricted in a way that still felt intentional. At some points, it felt a bit empty, but it did mean that we really honed in on the stellar performances of both Rosheuvel and Wright.

As the grandmother of Erica being at the centre of the narrative throughout the play, we saw the interaction parallels between Mother/Daughter (from Joyce and her mother) and Granddaughter/Grandmother (Erica and her grandma). These scenes were very powerful, as we could see how their interactions with their matriarch contributed to who each of them are today in completely different directions: Erica longed to stay close to her grandmother, whereas it seems that Joyce wanted to reject the idea of her existence. Though it was a bit confusing at points, as they both interchangeably played the grandmother but didn’t manage to come to a universal accent or delivery when it came to depicting her. It made it a bit more difficult to tie everything together as a viewer.

With Not Your Superwoman being 85 minutes with no interval, you are thrown into a real life conversation that most women end up having with themselves - in a patriarchal society where you are expected to dust yourself off and be a superwoman, what happens when the facade drops and you are forced to face and feel what you’ve been suppressing? This was a beautifully written play, exploring motherhood from different angles, grief and repairing familial ties. There are very limited tickets left for the run but if you have one you are in for a treat!