Maria Speight’s new play, Maybe You Should Know, comes to Camden Fringe this month.
“Daniel and Julie are people from two different generations, cultures and backgrounds, thrown together as they wrestle with the profound question of what do we owe to our mothers, and what do they owe to the sons they raise.
This poignant play balances humour with emotive drama as it delves into the weight of generational trauma, set against the backdrop of Homes for Ukraine, and is a must-see for anyone who has ever experienced the complexities of mother-child relationships.”
Where: Barons Court Theatre
When: 22 Aug, 24 Aug
Ticket link: https://camdenfringe.com/events/maybe-you-should-know/
What’s your show about and what inspired it?
We meet Julie, who is an older, middle class, quite traditional woman, and Daniel, a young man who “lives for rap” and going to a university his mother chose for him. She is missing her son, he is trying to get away from his mother.
As they wrestle with these roles and try to by turns recreate or escape from the family relationship between them, the audience will both laugh at the awkwardness and gasp at the drama that unfolds.
I was inspired by learning more about how we pass on generational trauma and how to break that cycle. But also by using humour to deal with difficult relationships!
Why should someone come to see your show and what might they expect?
If anyone has ever thought about how their relationship with their mother has affected them, they should come and see this show.
The audience can expect to find humour in unusual places but also be moved by the story unfolding in front of them. It’s very difficult to be angry at either character and pick a side.
Maybe there is always more than one side to every story.
How did you make a start in the business?
I moved to London to attend drama school in my early 20s. I wasn’t an actor for long, but the theatre was always calling me back, and last year I finally did something about it and wrote this play.
I consider myself a writer because I write but I’m learning everything else as I go along. Working with actors and a director has been the most fun and I have learned so much from them.
Do you have a favourite type of venue to work in?
I’m so pleased we came back to Barons Court Theatre for this show.
We met at their Sunday Fix Scratch Night and Leo and Sharon at the theatre are so helpful and kind with people like me who don’t really know what they’re doing!
I think pub theatres are such a selling point of London and love them.
What’s next for the show?
I read the script now and think, a year later, I would definitely write it differently, but if we extend it into a full length play, there will be an opportunity to learn from all the audiences who have come to see us, and that’s very exciting.
We’re also starting to think about who could play the characters in the Hollywood movie version… 🙂