WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:
"Understatement is not
Unity's style, and the generous performances onstage in "Mama"
create many emotionally dense moments." -St. Louis Post
Dispatch
"Mardra Thomas is gripping
as Mildred, not a saint but a woman who sometimes does her best
and sometimes doesn't. Troubles with men, with money, with jobs
and with drinking take their toll. Still, Mildred manages to
hold on to a spirited, life-affirming attitude at all times but
the very worst. There's something admirable in that. Her scenes
with her good-hearted sister-in-law (Bonnie Harmon) snap with
the authenticity of overheard conversation."- St. Louis
Post Dispatch
"So many scenes in Unity
Theatre Ensemble's production of "Mama" are powerful
or well-performed or touching or disturbing," - St. Louis
Post Dispatch
"Mama springs to fitful
life thanks to the words McMillan puts in the mouths of her characters,
words that spring from the minds and guts of struggling, suffering,
rejoicing people. That kind of dialogue is what works in Greene's
adaptation, too." - KDHX St. Louis
Director Greene creates some
amusing and moving vignettes from McMillian's novel. - The Riverfront
Times
"Mardra Thomas brings
the character of Mama to full-blooded, fully rounded life. Especially
fine are Thomas' scenes with Bonnie Harmon as her wise, patient,
long-suffering sister-in-law, Harmon's physical transformation
after her character suffers a stroke is both virtuosic and touching.."
-The Riverfront Times
MAMA,
the first novel by the prolific writer and author, Terry McMillan
is a story of survival against tremendous odds...of joblessness,
mental and physical abuse, hunger, and the care of five growing
children by a single mother...It's a story about a black mother's
choices and the consequences of choices made in order to keep
her family together...about relationships between women and men....about
the inability of family members to express love; accepting responsibility,
dealing with what is, and moving forward.