The Conversation
Has your mother ever driven you to distraction? Is she stubborn and not willing to change her ways though her health is failing? In The Conversation, a daughter navigates her strained relationship with her mother as they move towards their final chapter together. But no one can push your buttons like your mother and the result is as hilarious as it can be heartbreaking. Both women desire more from their relationship, but can they get past their longstanding patterns with each other and find a new way?
Winner of the inaugural PEI Playwriting Competition in 2023, The Conversation by Marlene Campbell is a comedy that looks at the time when the parent/child relationship shifts and the challenges, frustrations, and humour that results as that new relationship is navigated and negotiated.
Acclaimed actor and director, Marlane O’Brien takes on the role of an independent and successful career woman and mother, who is not gracefully accepting the confinements of aging, and is given to taking out her frustrations on her primary caregiver. Mellisa Mullen, an accomplished Island actor and playwright, plays the caregiving daughter, a single parent dealing with a rebellious child, a stressful job and a distant mother who pushes her buttons. When these two strong and determined women clash, it is as hilarious as it can be heartbreaking, as we relate to each one’s frustrations and fears. Both women desire more from their relationship as the mother moves towards her final chapter, but can they get past their longstanding patterns with each other and find a new way?
Pamela Halstead of Halifax’s DMVTheatre who is directing and producing the play says, “The dynamic between Marlane O’Brien and Melissa Mullen onstage as mother and daughter is truly magical and the audience will find themselves immediately drawn in to their witty and volatile relationship. These are two of the finest actors on the Island and they bring their combined talent and heart together to create a powerhouse performance.”