#TantalisingTuesdays time! Tell us who your favourite mum is (and why) for your chance to win a pair of tickets to our 5-star show The Beauty Queen of Leenane. If you’ve already seen the show – we’ll send you a programme. If you have a programme already, we’ll send you something else really good.
Either leave a comment here, email feedback@youngvic.org or post on our Facebook wall.
The Beauty Queen of Leenane, now playing, is all about a very complicated mother-daughter relationship. Mag, who is played by Rosaleen Linehan, has been described as a ‘monster of passive-aggressive manipulation’ (The Stage), a ‘cantankerous hypochondriac’ (Independent) and a ‘house-ridden, tyrannical mother’ (New York Times) — altogether an absolutely unforgettable character. This has got us thinking about other memorable mothers, and we’ve asked some of our staffers who their favourite famous mums are! Here they are:
Chris, our Box Office & Sales Manager’s favourite mum is Norman’s mother in the movie Psycho. She’s a pretty scary figure, but Chris says, ‘It’s not like my mother is a maniac or a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven’t you?’
Vicki, our Development Officer loves Edina from Absolutely Fabulous, whose children set a good example for her rather than the other way around. Vickie says, ‘Eddie is hilarious — she’s everything a mother shouldn’t be.’
Anca, one of our Marketing Managers, says that her favourite mums(!) are more figurative: Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn, the women who developed teaching sign language to non-signing families to communicate with their hearing infants/toddlers. ‘It’s amazing being able to sign with my nephew… from about 11 months, he would sign ‘please’, pass me a book and then climb into my lap so that I would read a book to him,’ Anca says.
Liza, PA to our Artistic Director David Lan, says her favourite famous mum is Diana Rigg, the gorgeous star of The Avengers. Why? ‘My mum was the spitting image of her — she used to get stopped in the street!’
Alan, our Director of Marketing, Press & Sales says that his favourite mother is his own!
Some other mothers we talked about are Medea, Mrs. Bennet , Princess Diana, Molly Weasley, and the ‘Tiger Mother’ — who’s your favourite unforgettable mum?
Young Vic Theatre blog 
My favourite mum is the one we never celebrate.. the ordinary everyday mum.. who not just survives but thrives. Who manages work, house, kids and the challenges they bring with equal love and passion… who doesnt know to give in and give up and marches forward each day with increased determination!
Hi S! Thanks for your brilliant mum! Am afraid your name wasn’t the one we pulled out of the hat.. but we loved reading your entry! Thanks again!
It has to be my Mum. She’s not just any Mum… but then most of us believe ours are special, don’t we? She’s brought up five of us to be good people who care for others as well as ourselves. She has lent a calm and experienced hand as we started our own families. She has been dependable, wise, loving and present always. She is a cancer survivor, and has worked hard to raise awareness and money for Cancer Research and for the British Heart Foundation. She’s been caring when needed, cross when required, is outrageously funny, and has always been what a Mum should be to her children… irreplaceable and precious.
Hi Niki! Thanks for your brilliant mum! Am afraid your name wasn’t the one we pulled out of the hat.. but we loved reading your entry! Thanks again!
I love the Mum from Malcolm in the Middle, Lois, as she is so feisty protecting her brood and never backs down! She rocks!
Hi Mary! Thanks for your brilliant mum! Am afraid your name wasn’t the one we pulled out of the hat.. but we loved reading your entry! Thanks again!
I love all the Tennessee Williams mums (i.e. Mrs Venable, Amanda), because they challenge a great performance, as well as the mother in “The Beauty Queen”. In the movies, I love Meryl Streep in “The Manchurian Candidate” & Ellen Burstyn in “Requiem for a Dream”. Because all these mother figures make me appreciate my own mother so much more!
Hi Liana! Thanks for your brilliant mum! Am afraid your name wasn’t the one we pulled out of the hat.. but we loved reading your entry! Thanks again!
Brenda Blethyn as Cynthia Rose Purley in Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies – she has flaw, lots of flaws, but ultimately she’s very kind-hearted and means well.
One of the more realistic protrayals of a mother in cinema
Hi Baldwin! Thanks for your brilliant mum! Am afraid your name wasn’t the one we pulled out of the hat.. but we loved reading your entry! Thanks again!
The Alien Mother from Alien(s) she’s a caring, protective mum if ever there was one!
I nominate Helena Vesey as played by Diana Rigg in 19899’s ‘Mother Love’ for which she won a BAFTA! Scary mother indeed!
Sorry that date should be 1989….long day!