Prairie Theatre Exchange play raises relatable laughs

It's probably worth stating the obvious here — I'm not a mom. I don't even have kids, so I supposed I'm about as far from "mom" as you can possibly get (though I do have a mom, and I'm a big fan of her work).

So admittedly, I'm not the target demographic for Mom's the Word — a collectively-created play that's toured the world and been frequently revived since its first performance back in 1995. Its latest incarnation, with five new actor-mothers stepping into the roles of the show's original creators, comes to Prairie Theatre Exchange (where the original ran back in 1997) in a co-production with Victoria's Belfry Theatre.

And it's easy to see here why this play has endured for more than two decades — it's honest, it's funny, and even non-moms will find lots to enjoy here.

That doesn't mean it's a show for everyone, however. The point here is that motherhood is all-consuming in the early years. So to buy into it, you'll have to accept the fact this is a play solely focused on women in their role as mothers. Careers are barely mentioned, relationships outside mother-child are glancingly acknowledged, and the notion of women who don't have kids doesn't enter this world. If you can't wrap your head around that, steer clear.

Everyone else, though, is in for a wild ride through momdom.

In a series of sketches, the five performers (Trish Cooper, Sarah Donald, Yumi Ogawa, Jenny Wasko-Paterson and Lisa C. Ravensbergen) take an unvarnished look at everything from childbirth (in a wince-inducing labour scene performed by Ogawa) to cleaning dirty diapers to post-baby sex to enduring the judgment of other moms.

There are some serious moments here — in particular, Cooper skillfully handles a series of monologues about a mother with a hospitalized infant. There are also a few maudlin beats, but Mom's the Word doesn't linger in them too long.

Most of this, though, is played for big, bawdy laughs — and there are plenty of them. There's Wasko-Paterson's realization her toddler has escaped from her in a public change room at a most inopportune moment, or the scene where she regales friends with her kids' latest colourful bodily functions. Or Ravensbergen's ecstatic realization that the only thing better than sex is childcare. A scene that ends in a breast milk fight had the woman sitting next to me laughing so hard, I honestly thought she might fall out of her seat.

The five women throw themselves into this with gusto, and they're all wonderfully talented performers. For the most part, they're onstage at all times, even when not part of a scene, and reacting naturally to each other's stories — enhancing the sense here of mothers sharing an experience with each other, and us.

Michael Shamata's energetic direction keeps the two hour (with intermission) show running snappily along, with scenes flowing naturally into one another.

A lot of the scenarios are things that will sound familiar to anyone who is a mom — or ever spoken to one for more than a few minutes. And many of the laughs here probably come from recognition, which means I likely didn't get as much out of it as the mothers in the audience probably did.

Even so, I laughed a lot — and came away an even bigger fan of my mom.

Mom's the Word runs at Prairie Theatre Exchange until Nov. 27.