ONE HAND TIED BEHIND US: MOTHER’S LITTLE HELPER (Old Vic)*****

 

By Emma 

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=520obrdEjU0 

Available until: Unknown

I’m not sure if the woman in this monologue makes me want to laugh or makes me want to rescue her but it’s very good.

She’s an older woman, talking about a time when she was much younger and wanted to have fun with boys. She’s a bit worried about the pregnancy aspect so she decides to do something to prevent it. Nowadays, it would be considered not just sensible but essential but people looked at it differently in those days. You could only get them from the doctor if you were married. You could only get them from under the counter at the chemist if you were a man.

This woman isn’t married and she definitely isn’t a man but she doesn’t let that stop her from trying. I do like her daring and her independence but it’s a bit worrying too. She could have got herself into real trouble. It must have been difficult for women when they were fighting for the right to have fun but it could maybe still have ruined their reputations. But it was something we really had to go through so we could get to a stage where women had more freedom to do what they wanted. Things still aren’t perfect and some women are still given negative labels and there are huge safety issues but I think things are basically better now.

Mother’s Little Helper was written by Jeanette Winterson. I didn’t think she wrote about straight relationships and I didn’t think she did humour either so I was surprised by how funny this was. I was a bit confused by the bit about Valium, at first I thought she thought Valium was a contraceptive but then later, I thought maybe she didn’t after all but maybe that’s just me being slow. The script is so funny and clever.

Celia Imrie is the actor in this monologue and she is brilliant. She plays the character really well, she’s a little bit cheeky but really lovely and her comic timing is perfect. She hasn’t learned the script so she’s reading it and she actually gets some of the words wrong (unless the subtitles are wrong) but I think it shows how good she is because even without being completely familiar with the words, she knows instinctively how to say every single line.

She also has to play the roles of the other people mentioned in the monologue. Most of them are men but she plays them really well.

Mother’s Little Helper isn’t the most responsible monologue ever and I’m glad I didn’t watch it till the kids are in bed because my oldest asks the most awkward questions but it’s hilarious.