The theatre’s 32nd mainstage season kicked off with ‘Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End,’ which chronicles the life of America’s favorite housewife
By Samantha Bambino
The Times
Nearly 60 years ago, one brave woman did something virtually unheard of at the time — she told the truth. Her name was Erma Bombeck, a mother and housewife who whiled away the hours cleaning, ironing and cooking until her husband and children returned from work and school. For females of the mid-’60s, this sort of lifestyle was the expected norm. But Bombeck wanted more, and knew there were other housewives who did as well.
With so much time to spare during the day, Bombeck took to writing about what she knew best — being the matriarch of her family. She penned the frustrations of her generation, asking questions like, “If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?” and chronicling the stresses of motherhood in a humorous, relatable way. Soon, her column At Wit’s End was appearing in newspapers nationwide, and Bombeck became the unlikely champion of housewives everywhere.
In celebration of her legacy, Bristol Riverside Theatre kicked off its 32nd mainstage season with Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End, a one-woman tour de force starring Licia Watson in the title role. The show, created by Allison and Margaret Engel and directed by Jennie Eisenhower, runs through Oct. 7.
From the moment audiences settle into their seats, they’re immediately thrown into Bombeck’s world. The stage, designed by Roman Tatarowicz, is transformed into a quaint, suburban home of the ’60s era, with pale green carpeting from wall-to-wall, a pale pink vacuum at the ready and a rotary phone.
As Watson makes her grand entrance from the back of the theater, she only adds to the illusion. Sporting a headful of blond curls, tan slacks and a stylish scarf around her neck, she is the epitome of a ’60s housewife. But after taking into consideration Watson’s expansive experience playing maternal figures, including Marmee in Little Women — the Musical and Rona Lisa Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, her success in the role comes as no surprise.
Taking the stage, Watson instantly exudes the confidence and wit Bombeck was most known for. During her opening night performance, she had the audience laughing out loud in minutes with one liners like, “Housewife, what a concept. A woman married to a house.” Murmurs and nods of agreement rippled through BRT in response to Watson’s sigh of annoyance at her children fighting first thing in the morning.
Watson’s ability to play off virtually nothing other than herself and some sound effects is astounding. Bombeck’s children and husband are represented on stage by three chairs at the kitchen table and pre-recorded voices played through the sound system. But from the way she interacts with the empty space, sending her rowdy kids off to school and expressing annoyance when, of course, they forget something, it’s almost possible to forget there are no other actors.
Once she’s left with only the quiet serenity of her empty home, audiences are able to steal a glimpse into the once monotonous daily life of Bombeck. Watson vacuums, irons and folds clothes, all while chronicling the life of her character. She reveals how Bombeck’s childhood wasn’t the easiest. Her father died when she was only 9 years old, and since her mother was only 25 at the time, the pair went to live at her grandparents’ house, sharing her mother’s old bedroom.
For the next hour, Watson goes on to share how Bombeck went from writing obituaries to landing her first real gig at a local weekly. Here, Bombeck transitioned from penning house tips to humorous anecdotes about her own trials and triumphs of being a housewife. Her bedroom became her office, and television became her go-to method for keeping the kids out of her hair.
“Insanity is hereditary, you catch it from your children,” Watson tells the audience.
After much early success, Bombeck’s column At Wit’s End was soon running in 36 major newspapers nationwide, with her pieces expanding to include the quirks of her husband, Bill.
“God created man. I could’ve done better,” she says, mimicking his nightly routine of turning off every light in the house to save money.
Watson explains how Bombeck got her fair share of hate throughout her career. She received angry letters from mothers who took her words a bit too seriously, expressing shock over her wish to leave her kids at a gas station mid-car trip. At the same time, she also received praise. One mother in prison informed Bombeck she wouldn’t have been arrested if she knew she could laugh at the topics in the column.
A standout moment for Watson is at the end of the show, when she allows Bombeck to put the humor aside for a moment. During this scene, she makes it clear that although her column was all about the frustrations and comical moments of motherhood, she wouldn’t have traded them for the world. Actually, she’d do anything to get them back, the days of spilled spaghetti on the floor, endless scraped knees to heal and tiny clothes to fold. All too quickly, it was her children shooting out a “soccer mom arm” to instinctively protect her after braking too hard.
“The switch had arrived,” she says.
At that, more than one mom in the audience could be heard sniffling back tears.
Performances of Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End run Wednesday through Sunday. Tickets start at $33 with discounts for students, groups and military personnel. Tickets are available by visiting brtstage.org or calling the BRT box office at 215–785–0100. Bristol Riverside Theatre is located at 120 Radcliffe St. in Bristol.
BRT’s mainstage season continues with the Broadway-bound musical The Rivals with book and lyrics by two-time Tony nominee Peter Kellogg and music by two-time Richard Rodgers Award-winner Stephen Weiner (Oct. 30-Nov. 18), the American classic On Golden Pond by Ernest Thompson (Jan. 27-Feb. 22), Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys (March 12–31), and The Christians by Obie Award-winning playwright Lucas Hnath (April 30-May 19). ••
Samantha Bambino can be reached at [email protected]
