What hasn’t Ruth Lawrence done in her illustrious, multi-discipline spanning career in local arts? One answer, until this sumer, was tour a show with her son, Luke, an actor and comedian.
The mother and son duo let “Stable Home: Life with 2 Horses” loose in Stephenville last night, and will be doing so again tonight at 7 pm, at The Stephenville Theatre Festival.
The show was written by the two of them, after deciding this was the year to put their mother and son story on a stage: Ruth is turning 48 and Luke 24 (see the math logic?)
Perhaps every mother and son, if they sat at a table, swapping the wildest moments of their lifelong, irreplaceable bond, would churn up a few hilarious, honest moments that forged their bond. That is the spirit of “Stable Hoome: Life with 2 Horses.”
The show title stems from the fact they were each born in the Year of the Horse, which is one explanation for why they’re both such likeable and good-humoured people.
As well, according to Chinese mythology, they’re equestrian opposites: Ruth is a Fire Horse, believed to lead to rebelliousness and destruction.
Luke is a Water Horse, living on a whim with an off-the-wall nature that makes it difficult to develop strong, long-lasting relationships. Now: picture that personality combo, rearing up under the same leaky roof.
“From potty training with candy and stifling heartbreaks, to late night car rides … and car crashes, the audience will learn there are definitely two sides to every story – the mother’s and the son’s – Ruth’s and Luke’s.”
The honest, endearing duo assures us that “once you hear our stories, you’ll probably feel a lot better about your own upbringing.”
In terms of what’s been great or unexpected about working with her son, Ruth says it’s been a couple of things. Like finding out the real stories behind a couple of incidents from their past that were pretty surprising, sometimes shocking.
“I know him better than before I started the show, and didn’t think that was possible!”
She’s also seeing how Luke’s style of working in stand-up comedy is different than her own in film and theatre.
“He likes to work things out on his own, and try it in front of an audience to shape it, and that way terrifies me. I like to have it mostly worked out. So it’s been a real workout for me to work that way.”
The two will perform this show elsewhere this summer, and if we’re lucky, somewhere close to St. John’s where we can catch it.
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