Review: SON OF A BITCH, Southwark Playhouse

Marnie never chose to be a mum. She loves her 4-year-old and would die for him, but he’s not what she expected him to be. When she’s filmed calling him a see-you-next-Tuesday on a plane back from Dubai, the video immediately goes viral. With her lowest moment immortalised for everybody in the world to see and judge, Marnie explores the ambivalence of motherhood. Written and performed by Anna Morris, Son of a Bitch exposes the casualties of virality, unpicking societal expectations to ask an open question: why do we have children?

A concentrated mix of black comedy paints a caustic worldview filled to the brim with vibrant characters and precise observations. We’re introduced to a painfully relatable woman, someone you’ve most probably met. Directed by Madelaine Moore, the piece is a piercing exploration of womanhood. The lead-up to the incident interpolates broader considerations of why we are the way we are, of how the standards of society dictate every move in a woman’s life. Humour coexists with deep sadness as Morris describes the disconnect you feel when everyone else suddenly seems to be getting married and having kids.

The pressures of growing up in a traditional household transpire with an amusing confessional-style monologue. Sure, the performance tips into that typical upspeak lilt that plagues one-person plays, but the text is pacey and gripping enough to forgive these occasional slip-ups. Everything unfolds in a liminal space that recalls a waiting room or an airport lounge. One single armchair sits enclosed by two semi-arches below a long screen. Ellie Isherwood curates the sound design to move the story along and a clever system of creative captioning by Megan Lucas enhances the action. From displaying flight information to establishing the side characters through an intriguing dramaturgy of fonts, the show wouldn’t be the same without.

As she gives us an excursus of how Marnie’s relationship came to be and the role that her family and friends played in getting her where she is, Morris is refreshingly vocal about the unspoken realities and taboos of motherhood. She’s candid about the contradictory feelings she projects onto Charlie and the fact that she never truly wanted him - unlike the cat they had to re-home due to Charlie’s allergies. While she relives the trauma of being called ‘Britain’s worst mother’ and having strangers call child protection services, she details the online violence she suffered, the rage-bait articles, and all the daytime tv segments she unwillingly led.

What the people didn’t get to see is why she reacted that way, where Charlie’s father was during her breakdown, and what happened right after the video stopped. Ultimately, Son of a Bitch a bitter picture of how women have to bend and accommodate, how easily and quickly they’re castigated regardless of what they do. Nobody’s criticising her avoidant husband Jake or his suggestion of having a ‘trial separation’ when her life crumbles. Why’s that?

Son of a Bitch runs at Southwark Playhouse until 15 March.

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