Review: Not Your Superwoman, The Bush Theatre

Not Your Superwoman runs for 85 minutes, but in that time, the audience is transported across decades and continents, moving fluidly between past and present. It is a vivid, emotionally resonant exploration of mother-daughter relationships across three generations of British-Guyanese women.

Golda Rosheuvel plays Joyce, a single mother struggling to connect with her Millennial daughter Erica (Letitia Wright), following the death of Joyce’s own mother. Together, they reckon with what they call a curse passed down through the women in their family: a legacy of emotional silence, misunderstanding, and generational trauma.

The production’s use of video projection (Gino Richardo Green) is exceptional, helping to transport the viewer between timelines and to Guyana with ease and emotional depth. The sound and lighting design (Max Pappenheim and Jai Morjarla) are equally strong, creating atmosphere without overwhelming the dialogue.

The writing is a particular triumph. It strikes a fine balance between serious, often painful emotional truths and moments of genuine levity. The play comments astutely on the evolving nature of parent-child dynamics, especially as shaped by migration, changing attitudes to mental health, and the rapid shift in technology. There are laugh-out-loud moments, such as Joyce embarrassing Erica mid-flight by blasting music by Central Cee, who just happens to be on the plane, or when she flirts shamelessly at the hotel bar, pretending to be younger than she is.

In a particularly entertaining scene, the typical mother-daughter dynamic is reversed. Joyce throws herself into cocktails and party mode, while Erica, sober and cautious, says she is reassessing her relationship with alcohol. It’s a clever shift that underlines the generational tension and the role reversals that often occur as parents age and children take on the emotional caregiving.

At the heart of the play is a deep misunderstanding between the characters. Joyce, forced into single motherhood, receives little support from her own mother, who parents her in the same distant, critical way she herself was raised. Erica, meanwhile, is trying to untangle her own emotional wounds in therapy, but has yet to fully understand her mother’s choices or pain. This tension persists for much of the play, softening only towards the end, as Erica begins to grasp that she has the chance to break the cycle and raise her own child differently.

Rosheuvel and Wright are outstanding, effortlessly embodying multiple generations of women shaped by cultural and familial expectations. Both actors move with ease between light-hearted banter and moments of raw vulnerability, giving the audience a nuanced and emotionally charged performance.

Directed by Lynette Linton in her final production as Artistic Director at The Bush, Not Your Superwoman is a powerful, tender and timely piece of theatre. It is a fitting culmination to Linton’s tenure: bold, compassionate, and unafraid to tackle the complexities of identity, heritage and healing.

Writer: Emma Dennis-Edwards
Director: Lynette Linton
Set & Costume Designer: Alex Berry
Lighting designer: Jai Morjarla
Video designer: Gino Richardo Green
Sound designer: Max Pappenheim
Composer: Xana

Not Your Superwoman plays at The Bush Theatre until Saturday 1 November.