The Mama Monologues
Nowadays it’s not enough to sit on your tush in your room and write.
People want awesome entertainment! Writers need to emote!
The Writing Mamas are known for their full-on public performances of their pieces called the Mama Monologues©.
Anywhere from twelve to twenty-two mothers climb up on stage and perform their LOL work. It’s funny because it’s soooo true. When they talk about breastfeeding, you can practically see their babies at their bosoms. When they complain about shopping with their children – you know it’s Happy Hour for kids! When their little ones get hurt, you want to put Hello Kitty Band-Aids on their little knees, and yours, too.
Anne Lamott
We always perform with a well-known writer who becomes an honorary Writing Mama. Prior Mama Monologues© have been with Anne Lamott, Ayelet Waldman, Jacquelyn Mitchard (“Deep End of the Ocean”), Joyce Maynard (“At Home in the World”) and Sylvia Boorstein (“Happiness is An Inside Job”).
Our latest Mama Monologue was held Nov. 18, 2010 at the iconic book store Book Passage in Corte Madera, California. Our honorary Writing Mama was the kick-ass funny Kelly Corrigan, author of the New York Times bestsellers, “The Middle Place,” and “Lift.”
This was the perfect parents party evening to whine and wine! Some of us were pretty smashed and dammit — we deserved it! The evening was SOLD OUT!!!!! The book store was filled. Yummy food, equally yummy Napa wines, hysterical entertainment, and touching ones from some of The Writing Mamas, and a deeply moving monologue from Abelina Magana. Abelina was shot 15 times by her husband, is the mother of three teenagers, and is one of the most beautiful souls you will ever meet. Not because of her challenges, because of who she is as a person. Uplifting, funny and VERY inspirational.
The Mama Monologues is a fundraiser. Unlike most others, Dawn Yun, founder of The Writing Mamas, and the creator of the Mama Monologues, decided five years ago that when the event began at The Marsh theatre in San Francisco with Jacquelyn Mitchard, that 100% of the profits of every monologue would be given to a person or persons in need. ALL of it!
This is what parents helping parents is all about. Doing something for yourself and doing something for others. School volunteering rocks! So does assisting others you don’t know but who could use your help.
Kelly Corrigan
For a Mama Monologue performance members of the community are actively sought who could use financial help. We believe in doing well by giving back. Our first recipients, three girls and their soon-to-be stepfather lost their mother and his fiancée when criminals shot into the parents’ family bedroom, instantly killing the mother and the baby still in her womb. The thugs had the wrong house. The children lost their mother, a sibling, and the financee lost the love of his life. Thousands of dollars were given to them from the Mama Monologues. We’ve also raised money for a charity that helps people who are penniless. Another time we raised ka-ching for the authors Stephen and Ondrea Levine. She has leukemia, he is in ill health and their finances need shoring. Another recipient was a teenager who is paralyzed, has discovered innovative physical therapy and her insurance will not pay. The Mama Monologues again raised thousands of dollars so this wonderful girl, now in college!!!! could be assisted.
During breaks in our performance we offer wine (a perk of being near the Wine Country) and sometimes have a Writing Mamas Bake Sale. Yes! Writing Mamas don’t just write. They don’t just perform. They cook! They bake! They clean! They’re mothers. We do EVERYTHING 24/7. Now where are our medals? We are goddesses. Where’s a good pedestal when you need one?
We enjoy sharing our writing with other parents who, like many of us, rarely have an evening out, while also doing something of service for the community.
It’s good karma. (These points are particularly helpful to offset the deficit of our earlier ones when we lost patience at our beautiful children. Despite the sometimes-high decibels that emanate from their and our mouths – we know we are blessed.)
Performing in and watching the Mama Monologues© just may be some of the best fun you’ll ever have. Well, not exactly. There is sex. There is wine. There is chocolate.
You’re a parent. You need to party. COME TO THE NEXT MAMA MONOLOGUES!!!!!!!!
And if you want to raise money for a local charity in your own town, it could be for your school, a religious association, a person in need, or an organization, contact Dawn Yun at dawnyun1@gmail.com, or call her at 415.233.2483 to discuss how to license this awesome money making event in your area.
Putting on your very own version of the Mama Monologues with you and other parents in which you write your own stories gives voice to your inner writer and performing your own monologues about parenting allows your inner actress to show the world your amazing awesomeness! Plus raising money allows you to feel good about yourself while helping others.
