EAT THE MAMA Makes Premiere in San Francisco in September
Performances run September 14-17, 2023.
By: Stephi Wild Aug. 22, 2023
“Eat the Mama,” the solo show of renowned theater artist and comedian Jessica Mele, will have its world premiere in San Francisco on Z Space’s Z Below stage September 14-17, 2023. “Eat the Mama” will be directed by San Francisco director May Liang. The play explores one woman’s reluctant journey into “motherhood,” from interstellar isolation to galactic rage to lovestruck cannibalism.
Early motherhood had Jessica facing realities about her body that she had spent her whole life since puberty avoiding and leaking emotions she had worked decades to plaster over. She was an astronaut, separated from a boiling death by a flimsy spacesuit. She was a supernova, consuming itself in darkness. She was a space rock, cold and alone. “Eat the Mama” is one juicy bite of vulnerability with a lot of space metaphors.
This is a limited run playing Thursday, September 14 through Sunday, September 17, 2023. Opening night/press night will take place Friday, September 15. Tickets ($30 General Admission, $50 VIP) are now available online at zspace.org/eatthemama.
Writer/producer/performer Jessica Mele is an experienced sketch comedian who co–founded PianoFight's female-driven sketch comedy group, Chardonnay. Director May Liang is a Theater Artist of Color based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a resident artist at Crowded Fire Theater and has worked with American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theater’s Ground Floor Lab, California Shakespeare Theater, and Bay Area Playwrights Foundation, among others.
Mele has been developing “Eat the Mama” since 2021, beginning with a solo show workshop with Phoebe Nir, through MusicalWriters.com. She expanded and refined the piece through one-on-one coaching with San Francisco playwright and writing coach Megan Cohen. Mele hosted a reading of the play at PianoFight in February 2023, shortly before that venue’s closing.
“This piece is the interstellar voyage I needed to reckon with the mother that I thought I was supposed to be and come to terms with the mother that I actually am” says Mele.
“Eat the Mama” features sound design by Sara Witsch, lighting design by Sophia Craven, set design by Tim Mele and stage management by Jacqualynn Metcalf.
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