(the) Woman
The North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford

JANE UPTON’s unflinching diatribe against motherhood largely takes the form of a series of duologues or hard hitting, humorous sketches about a female playwright facing the physical, emotional and psychological challenges of coping with a baby.

From the sexual strains on her marriage and exhaustion to restrictive social perceptions of motherhood and the impact on her career, (not to mention the physical changes brought on by childbirth), the 100-minute play takes a broad sweep at the often overlooked, lifechanging event of raising a child.

Lizzy Watts plays the sharply spoken, often crude mother with more than her share of attitude, but this slightly unsympathetic portrayal fits the character’s own sense of self-loathing brought on by a minefield of contending emotions and degraded self-image.