The Artist Man and the Mother Woman

Morna Pearson

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781408173718
• eBook ISBN: 9781408173725
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

How my wee boy, as naive and pastey as he is, could get a grown woman tae go weak at the knees, screaming, as it appears you wis last night. When he's nae so much as accidently brushed up against a wifie afore, and there's nae internet or dirty magazines in the hoose tae speak o. And I ken, I've checked under his mattress. Nut, nae contact wi anither female in the world. Oh. 'Cept his mammy o course. 'Cept his mammy. Geoffrey Buncher is an art teacher. Until now his only meaningful relationship has been with his mother, Edie, who doesn't want her 'wee man growing up too fast'. But when one day he reads in the newspaper that he's working in amongst the top ten sexiest professions, he decides to advertise in the local papers for a wife. Straying outside of his comfortable existence where his mother continues to buy her middle-aged son's Ribena, Geoffrey enters a frightening world of adulthood and female companionship that he struggles to adjust to. Attraction manifests itself in warped and disturbing ways and leads to a terrifying conclusion. Written in Morna Pearson's trademark 'lurid, post-modern Doric' ( Scotsman ), and with hints of Joe Orton and Harold Pinter, The Artist Man and the Mother Woman is a wickedly funny, deceptively simple, surreal portrait of a spectacularly dysfunctional relationship. This world premiere was staged by the Traverse Theatre Company in the Traverse One space between 30 October and 17 November 2012, directed by Orla O'Loughlin.

Theatre’s Programme Pages

The Artist Man and the Mother Woman

Morna Pearson

Geoffrey Buncher	Garry Collins
Edie Buncher	Anne Lacey
Thomas	Lewis Howden
Evelyn	Lynn Kennedy
Clara / Woman A / Woman B	Molly Innes

Director	Orla O’Loughlin
Designer	Anthony Lamble
Composer / Sound Designer	Daniel Krass
Lighting Designer	Richard Howell
Assistant Director	Marta Mari

Production Manager	Kevin McCallum
Company Stage Manager	Gemma Turner
Deputy Stage Manager	Catherine Devereux
Assistant Stage Manager	Naomi Stalker
Costume Supervisor	Kat Smith
Voice and Dialect	Ros Steen

Traverse Theatre

New Writing | New Work | International | Festivals | Engagement

The Traverse Theatre is Scotland’s new writing theatre. From its conception in 1963, it has embraced a spirit of innovation and risk-taking that launched the careers of many of Scotland’s best-known writers including John Byrne, David Greig, David Harrower and Liz Lochhead.

The Traverse is unique in Scotland in that it fulfils the crucial role of providing the infrastructure, professional support and expertise to ensure the development of a dynamic theatre culture for Scotland. It commissions, develops and produces new work from contemporary playwrights. It also presents productions from visiting companies with work ranging from new plays to dance, physical theatre, puppetry and contemporary music.

‘The Traverse has an unrivalled reputation for producing contemporary theatre of the highest quality, invention and energy, and for its dedication to new writing.’ Scotland on Sunday

The Traverse has an international reputation for producing and presenting the very best new drama, and this is particularly the case during the Edinburgh Festivals in August. The Traverse Festival 2012 programme overall took 16 awards. It is also the home of the manipulate Visual Theatre Festival, the Imaginate children’s theatre Festival, and the Traverse Dance Festival.

2012 witnessed the birth of Write Here, a brand new festival at the Traverse. Focused on opening up the process behind new writing, the festival encouraged interaction between writers, playwrights and audiences.

As well as a year-round series of workshops, public discussions and work-in-progress events, the Traverse engagement programmes include flagship education project, Class Act and the Young Writers’ Group. Class Act, which soon enters its 23rd year, gives school pupils the opportunity to develop plays with professional playwrights and see their finished pieces performed on stage at the Traverse.

The hugely successful Young Writers’ Group is open to new writers aged 18 - 25. Graduates from the group who have gone on to write professionally include Sam Holcroft, Morna Pearson and Catherine Grosvenor. A new project, Scribble, offers an after-school playwriting and theatre skills workshop for 14 - 17 year olds. The Traverse also recognises that new plays need new directors and this year teamed up with the JMK Trust to offer a series of events especially for emerging directors.

The Traverse turns 50 in 2013 and to celebrate the Theatre is offering 50 writers a year-long attachment to the Traverse, culminating in a new writing festival and three seed commissions.

‘Without the theatre, it’s difficult to imagine Scottish playwriting at all.’ The Sunday Times

Garry Collins (Geoffrey Buncher)
Work for the Traverse includes: Mr Placebo, Strangers Babies, Broke, White Point, Distracted. Other work includes: The Tempest (Dundee Rep); Of Mice and Men, Comedy of Errors, Beauty and the Beast, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella (Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh); Venice Preserved, Queen of Spades, Snow White, Baby Doll, A Handful of Dust, Cleo Camping Emmanuelle and Dick (Citizens Theatre); Thank God for John Muir, Cyrano, New Voices (Òran Mór); Cave dwellers (7:84); Dr Korzacks Example (TAG); The Doll Tower (Unity Theatre); Fierce, Decky Does A Bronco, The Houghmagandie Pack (Grid Iron); Macbeth, Swan Song (Open Book); My Romantic History (Borderline); Under the Black Flag, Coriolanus (Shakespeare’s Globe). Film Credits include: Dear Frankie (Pathe films); I’m in away from here (Selected film for the 65th Venice Film Festival, Corto Cortissmo- nominee/ Acripelagio Film Festival Rome, Short Planet – Special Mention Award). Television work includes: Young Persons Guide to becoming a Rock Star, The Book Group (Channel 4); Life Support, WitchCraze (BBC); Radio Credits include: Quartet (BBC Radio 4); A Man’s World (BBC Radio 3); Side Effects (B.B.C. Radio 4)

Lewis Howden (Thomas)
Work for the Traverse includes: Any Given Day, Petrol Jesus Nightmare #5 (In the Time of the Messiah), The Nest, Olga, Knives in Hens, Loose Ends, The House Among the Stars. Recent theatre work includes: A Slow Air, Edwin Morgan’s Dreams and Other Nightmares (Tron); Rolls in their Pockets (Òran Mór); Beauty and the Beast, Educating Agnes (Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh). Other Theatre includes: Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Tartuffe, Merlin, Mother Courage (with Derby Playhouse); Cuttin’ a Rug (Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh); Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off, Our Teacher’s a Troll (National Theatre of Scotland); The Company Will Overlook a Moment of Madness, A Dead Man’s Dying (Òran Mór / National Theatre of Scotland); Macbeth, Educating Agnes, Medea, King Lear (Theatre Babel); Defender of the Faith, The Beauty Queen of Leenanne, The Trick is to Keep Breathing (Royal Court Theatre); The Witches of Pollok (Tron); 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, The Big Funk, The Crucible, Glengarry Glen Ross (The Arches); No mean City, Nightingale and Chase (Citizens Theatre); Riddance (Paines Plough); F...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Epigraph
• Characters
• Scene One
• Scene Two
• Scene Three
• Scene Four
• Scene Five
• Scene Six
• Scene Seven
• Scene Eight
• Scene Nine
• Scene Ten
• Scene Eleven
• Scene Twelve
• Scene Thirteen
• Scene Fourteen
• Scene Fifteen
• Scene Sixteen
• Scene Seventeen
• Scene Eighteen
• Scene Nineteen
• Scene Twenty
• Scene Twenty-One
• Scene Twenty-Two
• Scene Twenty-Three
• Scene Twenty-Four
• Scene Twenty-Five
• Scene Twenty-Six
• Scene Twenty-Seven
• Scene Twenty-Eight
• Scene Twenty-Nine
• Theatre’s Programme Pages
• eCopyright