hosting MAU live!
Interested in having the Mother Load Tour come to your community?
Read on to see if this program could be just the thing to invigorate activism in your community.
What a Mother Load Program Weekend Looks Like:
Friday evening: A Self-scripted Portrayal of ‘Mother”!
We begin with a performance of the one-woman show, The Mother Load, in a public venue.
“Prepare yourself for a new vision of motherhood; it’s smart, off-kilter, sexy, loving, political, funny, questioning and a good night out. Beth Osnes strips away any theatrical trappings in this brutally honest exploration of being a mother in the 21st century. Enjoy an evening of original monologues that take a radical step towards bringing the unspoken into the light of day to be exposed. Humor abounds in this exploration, as do heartfelt and poignant moments of insight.”
Your local MAU community invites their extended community to attend along with other organizations, groups, schools or places of worship with similar goals to MAU and the general public. It’s important for a mama’s supporting community to be a part of this transformation from concern to action as it inadvertently involves them too. An admission price is asked at the door (sliding scale available to make it accessible to all). A lively talkback session led by Beth follows the performance to let all share their views and insights. After the performance, there is some food and drink to encourage conversation and community building.
Saturday morning: Using theatre as a tool to empower mothers to be effective advocates for the world’s children!
Bright and early the next morning a core of approximately 15-40 mothers (and others) meet for a workshop in an open space (could be a rehearsal space in the theatre, meeting room at a place of worship or public library, or a classroom). Your local MAU community and anyone else who wants to gain the skills, confidence and practice in acting up will participate. Beth will lead exercises for letting go of tension and maintaining full breath essential for effective public expression. Applying these techniques we will proceed with some voice work to expand our range, effectiveness and confidence. Then we will rehearse and “act out” activities often associated with acting up — from talking about our concerns with family and friends, speaking publicly, calling or meeting with a representative, to communicating with the media — using our expressive skills in a supportive and encouraging environment. This allows the entire group to devise solutions to obstacles and try them out! All the while we will draw needed inspiration from the MAU model for activism specifically developed by and for mothers that is proactive, non-confrontational and celebratory.
Saturday afternoon: Taking it to the streets!
We culminate with a public action by all who participated in the workshop, speaking out for the world’s children. After we enjoy a lunch together (potluck, catered, or brown bag) we will all put our courage and new skills to work by all participating in a public action. One that has worked well is the MAU Girlcott (opposite of a boycott): a positive endorsement of a business whose practices or products have a positive impact on the world’s children. An easy event is to Girlcott a café in a busy part of your town or city that prominently features FairTrade coffee and/or tea. Fair Trade is a system of trade that ensures a fair wage to the farmers; invests back into the families’ healthcare and education; and is environmentally sustainable. By encouraging consumers to spend their dollars on products that have a positive impact on the world’s children, we simultaneously educate the public about these issues, raise awareness and demonstrate that mothers are on the move to make these issues a priority in our world. In the past when we have done this, we arranged with the café when we would do this, handed out small cards explaining what Fair Trade is, and then presented the management with a MAU certificate of appreciation. When we did this action in Milwaukee, the café even provided free samples and coupons for us to hand out to passers-by. Upon my sister’s advice, we include balloons to communicate that our action is not angry, as is often assumed with sidewalk activism. We ALWAYS include stilts to make this event newsworthy, thus spreading our message even farther. It is both fun and important to include kids and partners in on this part as it increases our visibility, shows your family what a force you are, and trains the next generation of activists!
How the local MAU host partners in making this weekend a success:
Working together, this event can invite, inspire and engage your community in even greater levels of spirited activism on behalf of the world’s children. You, the local host, do not need to be a seasoned activist or event coordinator to bring this to your town. All you need is a few people willing to engage in some local legwork to make necessary arrangements.
Here’s what is likely to be involved:
* Identifying venues for the performance and the workshop
* Inviting audience and workshop participants (friends, family and extended communities)
* Notifying local media of the event (we’ll work together on this)
* Approaching local businesses for Girlcott
Optional:
* Asking local restaurants or groceries to donate food for after the performance and/or workshop
* Arranging for communal babysitting on site for the workshop to make it
easier for moms to participate
How this weekend program gets funded:
MAU is a mother-led, mother-fed grass-roots movement; thus we try to engage many mamas in our efforts to keep costs low. It’s great if Beth can stay at a host’s house. By the time we’re done planning this thing together, we’ll feel like family anyway! It’s nice if food for events can always be donated or provided “pot-luck” fashion by the local MAU community. If the venue needs to be rented, we try to use the admission price to cover that cost. Contact us for more specifics,
