Mommy Dearest
Sonja Smits’ Oedipal return to theatre
Back on a Toronto stage for the first time in nearly a decade, the TV icon, made famous by her roles in Street Legal, Traders and The Eleventh Hour, stars in Nightwood Theatre’s season opener, That Face. Smits plays the domineering mother of a family brought to crisis by her daughter’s expulsion from boarding school. Oct. 29 to Nov. 21.
It has been ages since you were last on a Toronto stage. Why the long break?
I like to dip my toe in every five years or so. My most recent foray was The Graduate at the Grand in London in 2006. I played Mrs. Robinson. I’d never done nudity before, so I figured I’d take my clothes off in front of 800 people and really make it count. Not to be unoriginal, but it was strangely liberating.
You’d do it again?
Oh, it’s not that liberating. I’ve done it. Now I can check it off my list.
Your character in That Face, Martha, is very volatile. Is she hard to play?
The TV and film roles out there for women my age are quite dreadful. When you read a script like this, your heart just sings. That Face was written by a 19-year-old—it’s how teenagers see their mothers, which is pretty intense.
Did you draw on memories of your relationship with your mother?
No, I didn’t. But I did tell my 14-year-old son that he wouldn’t be seeing the play. I don’t want to freak him out.
The relationship between Martha and her son is rather Oedipal.
Mothers’ relationships with their kids are complicated. People have characterized Martha as a Monster Mother, but if some mothers were honest, they’d say, “There but for the grace of God.”
Judging by how unconvincingly it’s often done, playing drunk is quite difficult. And Martha certainly drinks.
Martha is high on Valium. On booze. On other things. Alcohol is often used to mask other issues, other illnesses.
I don’t think I’m just playing drunk, but we’ll see. I’ll be doing my research.
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