The Good Enough Mums Club musical to make premiere with autumn tour
New musical The Good Enough Mums Club is to make its premiere with a tour this autumn.
The REcreate Agency and Spin Arts presents the show, a poignant and hilarious new musical based on women’s own stories of motherhood which has been produced, written, directed and performed by mums.
The Autumn 2023 tour will play Birmingham Hippodrome (25 – 29 October), Storyhouse, Chester (2 – 4 November), Norwich Theatre Playhouse (9 – 11 November), Lincoln Performing Arts Centre (16 – 17 November), MAST Mayflower Studios, Southampton (22 – 23 November) and The Lowry, Salford (30 November – 2 December).
With a book & lyrics by Emily Beecher and music by Verity Quade, Chris Passey, The Good Enough Mums Club is directed by Sarah Meadows and Michelle Payne.
Making up the cast are Rebecca Bernice Amissah (A Strange Loop, Daddy) as Michelle, Joanna Kirkland (Dear Evan Hansen, The Witches of Eastwick) as Bea, Amy Ross (Wicked, Heathers) as Sophie, Jade Samuels (Jumprov, MAWA) as Chantel and Belinda Wollaston as Esme (JUDY!, MAMMA MIA!) with Gemma Atkins (MAMMA MIA!, Wicked) as Swing and Cartier Fraser (The Buddy Holly Story, The Best of Wham) as Swing
Not perfect? Join the club! From peeing on sticks to drooping tits, The Good Enough Mums Club is both a hysterical and heartbreaking show which shares the love and dispels the myths with enough wipes to mop the tears and clean away the snotty laughter.
When the Council threatens to close their local playgroup, five women thrown together by motherhood overcome their isolation, loneliness, judgement and perfectionism to discover that they’re stronger as a group than as individuals, and that sometimes, being good enough is best.
Emily Beecher first created The Good Enough Mums Club out of her experience with severe postnatal depression and postnatal psychosis. At the prompting of her therapist, Beecher began to journal her experiences while juggling the demands of a newborn.
The show first held a community workshop in 2014 and has continued to be worked on over the past decade by meeting mothers from all over the country – from a mosque in Birmingham, to a pub in Leeds, to a school in the shadow of Grenfell.
For more information and tickets, visit goodenoughmumsclub.com/book
Emily Beecher, co-producer and writer of the book & lyrics, said: “I’m delighted that after 10 years of working on the show, of speaking to hundreds of mothers across the country, we are bringing the full production to these fantastic venues and to mums all over England.
“We are leading the way with our family-friendly working policies, which includes job shares, family friendly accommodation and children welcome in our rehearsal rooms. We truly believe no one should have to choose between having a family and doing what they love.”
Dr Jess Heron, CEO, Action on Postpartum Psychosis added: “It’s so important to raise public awareness of postpartum psychosis – a severe postnatal mental illness that affects around 1400 new mums in the UK each year. It often strikes without warning, and urgent help is needed. Seeing experiences brought to life on the stage in such a hopeful and reassuring way, as is the case with The Good Enough Mums Club, is invaluable in helping women and families to feel less alone and more able to identify symptoms and ask for help.”
The production has been co-commissioned by The Lowry and Birmingham Hippodrome, with support from Arts Council England.
