Ten seconds, seven words. That’s all it takes for Marnie (Anna Morris) to become a viral sensation… for all the wrong reasons. After a stressful long-haul flight in which her husband has ditched her and their son in Economy while he sips champagne in Business, Marnie’s rising frustrations have an almighty climax as she loudly calls her four-year-old a c*nt in front of all the other passengers — including one opportunist filming it on their phone.
Soon, Marnie is public enemy number one as she becomes the global poster girl for ‘bad’ motherhood. Some suggest child services need to get involved, some believe she should be sterilised, and #SaveTheSon is the latest trending topic.
But in reality, as we discover in time-jumping scenes throughout Son of a Bitch’s 60-minute runtime, Marnie isn’t a terrible mother. She’s someone who had a child without really wanting one, thanks to the pressure from her family, husband, and a society that refuses to acknowledge there’s more to being a woman than yearning to procreate.
As well as giving us Marnie’s perspective, writer and star Morris also voices the other key characters in her life, such as her uppity friend Lucy and overbearing mother. Morris shifts between these different roles and accents with ease, giving us a wonderfully textured performance.
I was particularly pleased not only to see that this play is fully captioned, but that Megan Lucas’s creative caption design actually adds to the performance by merging the captions with visual effects to reflect characters, settings, and moods. That being said, there may be a few lighting tweaks required, as I occasionally struggled to make out some of the words against the background.
Son of a Bitch is frequently hilarious but also packs in some real gut punches (and a couple of final revelations that made the audience audibly gasp) as Morris’s script examines the perils and pressures of womanhood and motherhood. It’s a fast-paced, refreshingly straight-talking piece of drama that’ll get you thinking — and laughing.
Son of a Bitch is at Southwark Playhouse until 15th March. Buy tickets from: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/son-of-a-bitch/
Reviewer: Olivia Cox
Reviewed: 28th February 2025
North West End UK Rating:
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