Just a short update: we're three quarters of the way through the Fringe. There's a show tonight (Saturday) and then Tuesday through Saturday again.
However we look at it, this Fringe has been a huge success for the Three Stuffed Mums. There have been great houses, fantastic audiences and lovely reviews. Even with a week to go we have post-Fringe bookings, some awesome plans in the pipeline and a bundle of songs and sketches awaiting development for the full stage show.
I've been having Thursdays and Fridays off during Fringe to accommodate energy levels and it's worked well. It's been a good balance, with the normal Monday to Wednesday workdays grounding me and stopping me flying off into Fringeland entirely. It pays to remember that Fringe isn't the real world and it's as transient as any of the Tivoli Garden setups in the parklands. It's beautiful and enchanting when it's there, but it's not there for ever. And if you've seen our show, you'll know the Mums are all about keeping it real.
The one thing about the show that has surprised us and blown us away is the sheer joy of it.
We knew we were having fun putting it together, but we didn't bank on it being this much fun night after night. We also didn't bank on the sheer joy of our audiences and the great energy they are feeding back to us.
When we talk to them after the show they say things like 'I'm glad it wasn't just me thinking that', and to hear them talking about how it feels better to just be human and flawed, that they feel happier in themselves because they know they're not alone in feeling how they do and how great it was to see their lives reflected back at them, well it makes your heart swell.
Its exactly what we've had underpinning the project all along - helping that connection set up and continue, to get us talking about parenthood with a laugh rather than a psychiatrist, and to know that none of us need to be alone on this journey through parenthood. I say 'parenthood' rather than 'motherhood' because some of the great feedback has been from the dads who were at first reluctant to come along. Yet,when they did they realised that it is just as applicable to their lives as it is to the mums'.
If you'd like to know more about what the Three Stuffed Mums are about go to www.threestuffedmums.com (silly blogspot won't let me link it!)
Ah, it turns out this hasn't been as short a blog as I thought it would be! So, heading into the final week of Fringe, lets all enjoy ourselves!
Happy Fringing!
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