All About My Mother

Samuel Adamson’s interpretation has taken the core elements of Aldmodovar’s film and refocused them, putting an even stronger spotlight on the maternal than the female-centric original feature did and bringing more humour, grit and satire to the story.

 

This is the story of Manuela (Alison Whyte), the eponymous mother who suffers a shocking loss on the night of her son’s seventeenth birthday that causes her to leave her job and travel from Madrid to Barcelona in search of the boy’s father. There she reunites with her old friend Agrado (Paul Capsis) a transsexual prostitute who introduces her to a young nun, Rosa (Katie Fitchett) who has fallen pregnant to the same person who fathered Manuela’s son. Somewhat unintentionally, she also becomes deeply involved with another woman tragically linked to her son, the actress Huma Rojo (Wendy Hughes).

 

If that plot sounds more complicated than explaining 25 years of Neighbours storylines in a single paragraph, well that’s probably because it almost is. However, Simon Phillips’ deft directorial clarity ensures that the difficult exposition is handled gracefully and fluidly, an achievement that is greatly aided by Stephen Curtis’ crafty set design. Evoking the heat and rough edges of Barcelona while also feeling cutting-edge with its ‘etched glass’ panels and effective use of projections, the set is wonderfully adaptive and expansive. Esther Marie Hayes’ costumes and music by the film’s composer Alberto Iglesias also add to the Spanish flavour of this production, so that the translation to English doesn’t rob the story of its ethnicity.

 

Whyte, as always, is excellent, wringing out a mother’s true emotional pain and elevating the melodrama to realism. With a plotline that often stretches the limits of believability, Whyte’s strength as a performer and lack of pretension carries this tale through its more kitsch moments. Capsis is quite simply perfect as the tranny ‘hooker with a heart’. Whether portraying Agrado in a more exposed moment at the hands of a brutal ‘john’, or showing off her razzle dazzle for the audience in front of the curtain Capsis delivers a performance that hits the sweet spot every time. Rounding out the trio, Wendy Hughes’ lesbian actress Huma Roja is wonderfully pompous and vulnerable at the same time. Hughes plays the melodrama to her advantage and brings a beautifully camp splendour to the role.

 

Strong performances abound in this production: Peta Sergeant as Huma’s volatile co-star and girlfriend Nina is full of kinetic energy, while Fitchett’s Sister Rosa is heartbreakingly sweet and Blake Davis is just lovely as Manuela’s ever-present son Estaban, (keep an eye out for this star of the future).

 

Ultimately, Adamson’s adaptation doesn’t realise when the party is over, in an effort to stay true to Almodovar’s female focus in the film he misses the opportunity to finish the story where it should truly end – when Estaban and his father gain closure. However, that doesn’t outweigh the fact that the bulk of this meaty play is a highly enjoyable ride through an SBS movie classic without the need to read the subtitles.