[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Mid Life Mood Swing written and performed by Mary Kennedy, directed by Charlene Ward at Whitefire Theatre’s Solofest.
Mary Kennedy is kind of the perfect person to create this solo show. She’s hilarious, genuine, an accomplished actress and stand-up comic, and has all the best stories. Growing up with a mother who has a wedding band during the 80s…I mean, come on…
So I was really looking forward to this show… and I was not disappointed.
As a woman of a certain age, I connected directly with the time in our life when flushed cheeks are no longer sexy and tempers are high and waistbands too tight. Not to mention everyone in our lives suddenly turning into idiots incapable of doing anything for themselves, or us. Sometimes it just feels like you are swimming upstream with rocks in your knickers. Is that just me? Mary Kennedy proved to me that it is not.
With her razor wit and her epic charm, she walks us through her sweet and imperfect beginnings, with a mother who sounds incredible frankly and an early life full of 80s dramas.
Married for over 20 years, with kids, I can fully appreciate the daily deluge of her life. The show is electric, the pacing perfect, the ebb and flow of comedy and pathos and exquisite searing truth gorgeously balanced and achingly real.
Solo shows are my favorite, to be honest. So, I am predisposed to adoration. However, they are not all equal in their brilliance. Mary Kennedy’s Mid Life Mood Swing is absolutely one of the best I have seen, and I’ve seen quite a few! I loved the way she looks directly and deeply at the audience as she opens her heart and twists the comedic knife. She’s a superb performer as her stints on Shameless and CONAN would confirm. Yet, she remains one of us.
Tough but vulnerable, adorable and a little bit dangerous. Just the kind of gal you want on your side when the shit hits the fan, so to speak.
I’m not sure when she will perform this show again, maybe during Hollywood Fringe? If she does perform, then I insist that you go.
Mary Kennedy is an utterly amazing solo artist. The perfect combination of funny and tender and unforgettable.
With stories of life and love and kids and her wonderful unforgettable musical mother that resonate deeply and remind us all that our lives are meaningful and wonderful, even when we think they are not.
Learn More at www.maryekennedy.com