Mothers Ruin: A Cabaret about Gin is returning to the UK after two successful UK tours, countless sold out shows in Australia, award nominations a-plenty and rave reviews (as well as many an empty gin bottle). The cabaret sensation will play at Worthing’s Pavilion Theatre on the Friday 31st May and Saturday 1st June at 8:00pm.
Whet your appetite in a thoroughly gin-soaked way with Mother’s Ruin: A Cabaret about Gin, performed by Australia’s hottest cabaret stars and served with the commonwealth’s darkest secrets. Equal parts historical and “hysterical”, this darkly comic ode to gin is a raucous journey told through tales of women, love, sailors, barmaids, bootleggers and… gin.
Two of Australia’s stars of cabaret, and long-time collaborators Maeve Marsden and Libby Wood, ignite the stage with stunning vocals and quick wit as they take an intoxicating stroll through the history of one of the world’s favourite tipples. Essentially is Mother’s Ruin a cabaret about gin? Yes. And no. It’s a roar from the very depth of the diaphragm recognising the stories of women that have been wiped from history and the gin that steadied their nerves.
From the streets of London to the Australian bush, via colonial India, New York speakeasies and the jungles of Peru, the mythology and propaganda around gin has been relentlessly used to subjugate women, build misnomers on miscarriage and hammer home the message of “hysteria”. With music originally performed by Amy Winehouse, Nina Simone, Martha Wainwright, Tom Waits, The Pretenders, Sia, Jessie J and more, Mother’s Ruin moves from misery to vaudeville in a moment, intertwining excess and prohibition, history and (re)invention.
Maeve Marsden is a writer, director, producer and performer most known for her work with comedy cabaret troupe, Lady Sings it Better. She is also an experienced theatre maker, programmer and producer, creating comedy, cabaret, storytelling and musical events in Sydney, including Queerstories, Pushy Women, blackcat lounge: a season of queer cabaret, Jagged Little Singalong and more.
Libby Wood has performed with Lady Sings it Better since 2010, appearing at countless festivals, comedy and live music events including Festival of Voices, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Hayes Theatre Co, Glitter Festival GC, Sydney Comedy Festival, Sydney Mardi Gras, Adelaide Fringe Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She completed a Bachelor of Music (musical theatre) at the Australian Institute of Music. She has performed at Light The Night and was a finalist in the Sydney Cabaret Showcase 2009. Her performance CV also includes musicals Promises Promises, Tommy, Sunday In The Park With George and The Wild Party.
Tickets for Mother’s Ruin: A Cabaret About Gin at the Pavilion Theatre, Worthing are priced from £16.50 and include a free G&T. For more information contact the Worthing Theatres box office on 01903 206 206 or visit worthingtheatres.co.uk.