Mother - a play about homelessness.

Photo courtesy of Creative Brisbane. 

Today is her last show and I cannot let her go without saying what an astonishing performance Noni Hazlehurst gave in "Mother" which is on at the Cremorne Theatre, QPAC. If you get a chance see this play which was written by Daniel Keene and directed and co produced by Matt Scholten, dont miss it. 

The Sydney Morning Herald was right to say that "Noni Hazlehurst gives the performance of her life".

Daniel Keene writes "We are living in a time when for many people, the most vulnerable among us are objects of scorn. Refugees are labelled criminals for fleeing oppression. They are liars, cheats and opportunists. The homeless, the poor, the disenfranchised are held in contempt. They are feckless victims of their own inherent weakness, their laziness, their irresponsibility."

Noni chose to do a one woman play and her subject matter, which was so ably written by Daniel Keene, is the story of a woman called Christie who once had a partner and a child but who has been rendered homeless, kicked out by her feckless partner, alienated from her child, struggling to survive, living a detached almost crazed existence, with no one to turn to or to hear her. 

Noni portrays this woman with raw realism, compassion and an enormous heart. Her performance touched every single person in the audience and she was given a standing ovation at the end of it. 

The Director noted that that in this day and age when we sometimes abstain from things in our lives, food, chocolate, alcohol, material possessions, we take it on as a bit of a personal challenge, yet he points out that the hardest thing to give up is judgement. It would be good to remember this in our daily lives.