THE ARTS CLUB THEATRE COMPANY’S
MOM’S THE WORD: TALKIN’ TURKEY
Created by the Mom’s the Word Collective
(Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Robin Nichol, Barbara Pollard & Deborah Williams)
Olympic Village Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre: October 2 to 4
On Tour: October 6 to November 8
The Arts Club Theatre Company’s Mom’s the Word: Talkin’ Turkey will be at the Olympic Village Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre October 2 to 4 before going on tour across the Lower Mainland. This hilarious holiday hit from your favourite moms—Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Robin Nichol, Barbara Pollard, and Deborah Williams—will tour nine cities through November 8.
The Moms are back in the creative kitchen and ready to turn the “season of thanksgiving” into the “season of forgiving.” Enjoy a theatrical feast flavoured with big belly laughs, stuffed with dysfunction, and topped with a soupçon of sarcasm—all served on a platter of naked truth. Nothing is off-limits: family traditions, food obsessions, body image, aging parents, teenagers, and the daily heroics of keeping it all together. Warm, irreverent, and deeply relatable, Talkin’ Turkey celebrates resilience, friendship, and the cathartic power of telling the truth—especially when it’s messy! Using their special recipe of raw humour and humanity, the moms prove that holidays really are about family, however you carve it.
“Over the last thirty years, the incredible, brilliant women from Mom’s the Word Collective have hilariously, vulnerably, and candidly shared with us what it means to rear small children, live with teenagers, and, finally, become empty nesters,” said Ashlie Corcoran, Artistic Director. “Now, with their trademark wit, joy, and irreverence, the Moms offer up their truths about the holidays. We are so pleased to remount this production on tour, allowing new audiences to see this deeply funny, distinctly Canadian work.”
Mom’s the Word: Talkin’ Turkey was originally developed as a Silver Commission by the Arts Club and received its world premiere at the Granville Island Stage (now the Lindsay Family Stage at Granville Island) in October 2022. The show has grown through multiple productions, including one at the Belfry Theatre in Victoria.
Mom’s the Word Collective
Mom’s the Word has had a full gestation period going back to conception in the spring of 1993. Six professional actors found themselves fully employed but ironically unpaid in the shocking role of “new mothers.” They began meeting weekly to create a piece of theatre they hoped would explode some of the mommy myths they’d encountered. Much had been written about the glory of motherhood but little of the gory bits. They talked, they laughed, they cried, they whined, they complained, they laughed some more, but they didn’t get anything down on paper. With a deadline looming, in the tradition of oral history, they remembered each other’s stories and decided on which stories had to be told. Thus was born Mom’s the Word. Since their start at the Arts Club, they have gone on to create Mom’s the Word: Unhinged and Mom’s the Word: Nest ½ Empty, growing their shows into international successes.
CAST
Jill Daum (Jill), Erla Faye Forsyth (Standby), Alison Kelly (Alison), Barbara Pollard (Barbara), Colleen Winton (Robin),Deborah Williams (Deb)
CREATIVE
Pam Johnson (Director), Anna Kuman (Choreographer), Lisa Goebel (Associate Choreographer), Pam Johnson (Set Designer), Barbara Clayden (Costume Designer), Darren Hales (Lighting Designer), Candelario Andrade (Sound & Video Designer), Jillian White (Tour Lighting Director), Philomena Sondergaard (Stage Manager), Madeleine Polak (Assistant Stage Manager)
TOUR VENUES AND DATES
| NORTH VANCOUVER
|
Capilano University Centre for the Performing Arts 604.990.7810 | October 6 |
| WEST VANCOUVER | Kay Meek Arts Centre 604.981.6335 | October 8 & 9 |
| NEW WESTMINSTER | Anvil Centre 604.521.5050 | October 11 & 12 |
| SURREY | Surrey Arts Centre 604.501.5566 | October 14 to 24 |
| COQUITLAM | Evergreen Cultural Centre 604.927.6555 | October 27 to 31 |
| MISSION | Clarke Theatre 604.687.1644 | November 3 |
| CHILLIWACK | Chilliwack Cultural Centre 604.391.7469 | November 4 |
| BURNABY | Shadbolt Centre for the Arts 604.205.3000 | November 5 & 6 |
| MAPLE RIDGE | The ACT Arts Centre 604.476.2787 | November 7 & 8 |
ABOUT THE ARTS CLUB THEATRE COMPANY
The Arts Club Theatre Company is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, in particular the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations, We invite you to reflect on your relationship to these lands.
The Arts Club is one of the largest not-for-profit theatre organizations in the country and is the principal gathering place for the theatrical arts in British Columbia. Comprising three unique venues across Vancouver, the Arts Club welcomes more than a quarter million guests annually, tours provincially and nationally, and engages students and artists alike through educational and professional programs.
Above all, the Arts Club is dedicated to the advancement of local artists telling stories from around the globe and, in particular, those of our region. From this, we believe that culture expands, an understanding of differences is nurtured, and art bursts forth. The Arts Club was founded in 1964 and is currently led by Artistic Director Ashlie Corcoran and Executive Director Peter Cathie White.
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