Oh, Mother! Review by Louis B Hobson

It's difficult to know whether to heap more praise on Rebbekah Ogden the playwright or Rebbekah Ogden the actor for her fringe show Oh, Mother! She has given herself a beautiful vehicle to showcase her talents, that she keeps her audience mesmerized for the hour she holds court. Odgen's show is a tribute to her mother, a fierce woman who nurtured her 12 children with as much discipline as love. It proved particularly difficult for Rebbekah who was the artistic child. Her mother felt that any dabbling in the arts was fraught with temptations. When the young Rebbekah told her mother she'd like to be a painter, he mother warned her that meant painting naked people. Rebbekah, as that child, recalls what that meant at that young age. It's as humorous as it is poignant, and that describes the whole show. The only ally Rebbekah had growing up was her imaginary friend, who was her muse. In a stroke of genius, that imaginary friend is played by the audience member Rebbekah chooses to paint, and address, during the performance. We learn a great deal about Rebbekah's mother and her oldest sister, but it just scratches the surface of what we want to know. There is so much mystery left at the end of the hour, which wraps so beautifully with Rebbekah giving her subject the portrait she painted. Understandably, the young woman cried when she saw the portrait. Rebbekah is as skilled an artist as she is a playwright and an actor.