Sophie Melville, Denise Black and Cat Simmons Will Lead MUM at Soho Theatre and Theatre Royal Plymouth

Sophie Melville, Denise Black and Cat Simmons will appear in the world premiere of MUM. This provocative and unflinching portrayal of early motherhood and mental health, written by Olivier award-winning playwright Morgan Lloyd Malcolm (Emilia, The Globe/ West End) and directed by Abigail Graham (soon to also direct Aladdin at Lyric Hammersmith) will run at Theatre Royal Plymouth from 30 September - 16 October before transferring to Soho Theatre from 20 October - 20 November where it will have a press night on Tuesday 26 October.

Sophie Melville, whose credits include Iphigenia in Splott (for which she won The Stage Award for Acting Excellence, the Wales Theatre Award for Best Female Performance and was nominated for an Evening Standard Award and a Drama Desk Award), Herding Cats (Soho Theatre), Pops (Roxy Theatre - for which she won The Stage Award for Outstanding Performance), the forthcoming Masks and Faces (Finborough Theatre) and on television Call the Midwife, The Pact and The Missing (all BBC) will play Nina. Denise Black, widely known for her leading TV roles in shows such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale (ITV) and Queer as Folk (Channel 4) as well as many acclaimed theatre performances including The Cherry Orchard (Sherman Theatre - for which she won the UK Theatre Award for best performance in a play) and Deep Blue Sea (Chichester Festival Theatre) will play Pearl. The cast is completed by Cat Simmons, who most recently appeared on stage in Come From Away (West End), The Lady in the Van (Theatre Royal Bath) and One Love (Birmingham Rep) and whose TV credits include her long running role in The Bill (ITV), Killing Eve (BBC) and Vera (ITV) will play Jackie.

This unmissable world premiere is a collaboration between Francesca Moody Productions (original producer of Fleabag, the Olivier award-winning Baby Reindeer, Shedinburgh Fringe Festival which is soon to return for a second year and the forthcoming Leopards opening this September at the Rose Theatre) and writer Morgan Lloyd Malcolm (whose hit show Emilia won three Olivier Awards in 2020 and whose new punk musical play Typical Girls premieres at Sheffield Crucible this September).

Motherhood. No one can prepare you for it. No matter how much you tell yourself you can do it - can you? Where's the rush of love? When will you sleep again? What if the thing you fear most is also the thing you crave? All you wanted was one night of unbroken sleep, what have you done?

Nina is a new mum and tonight is her first night off. Tonight is about pizza and wine and letting go. But Nina didn't feel prepared for motherhood and isn't sure she fits the job description. Nina feels like she's losing her grip.

This thought-provoking, funny and honest new play shines a light on early motherhood, anxiety and mental health. MUM examines the pressures and complex emotions many women experience when they have a baby. At a time when mothers have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic, never has it been more pertinent to explore these issues.

MUM is written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, directed by Abigail Graham, the associate director is TD Moyo, set and costume is designed by Sarah Beaton, lighting by Sally Ferguson, sound by Anna Clock and movement by Annie-Lunette Deakin-Foster.

Performances:

Theatre Royal Plymouth
The Drum
Royal Parade, Plymouth PL1 2TR
30 September - 16 October 2021
https://theatreroyal.com/
Box office: 01752 267222
Twitter: @TRPlymouth
Instagram: @theatreroyalplymouth

Soho Theatre
Main House
21 Dean St, London W1D 3NE
20 October - 20 November 2021
Captioned Performance: 10 November 7.30pm
Tickets: from £11
https://sohotheatre.com/
Box office: 020 7478 0100

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