Pittsburgh…The Three Rivers Arts Festival presents Yo’ Mama!, written and directed by Heather Arnet, choreographed by Mary Miller, June 19 and 20 at 8pm and June 21 at 4pm, at 937 Liberty Avenue. Yo’ Mama!, a provocative new comedy about the modern malaise of motherhood, stars some of Pittsburgh’s favorite artist moms including: Nancy Bach, Melissa Martin, Kristin Saucedo, and Kellee Van Aken.

Six women in a post-natal yoga class share honest, humorous, and irreverent tales of pregnancy, birth, sexuality, and parenthood as they explore the joys, exhaustion, exultation and frustration of new motherhood. An engaging one-hour roller coaster ride through sleepless nights, stretch marks, all encompassing love, first words, and orgasms that no mother, son, or daughter should miss.

“The script immediately grabbed me because it grapples with the balancing act of being mom and artist. Something I can completely relate to and something I had not seen explored ever on stage,” remarked Melissa Martin whose character, like herself, is a mom struggling to find time to write.

“Balancing home life with a career is never easy and we’re happy that the voice of all mothers can find a format at the Festival,” said Elizabeth Reiss, Executive Director of the Three Rivers Arts Festival and mother of a one and a half-year-old daughter.
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Arnet was inspired to write the play after the birth of her son, Travis. “Since artist/mom conflicts are at the heart of the piece, it was important for me to cast actresses who knew firsthand the joys and challenges of new motherhood.” Since the setting of the play is a yoga class, Arnet collaborated with a choreographer to create the movement that would be present throughout. “I immediately thought of Mary Miller because she has worked with non-dancer bodies before and has a lovely way of incorporating grace and humor into her movement pieces.”

Tickets are free but reservations are recommended. For reservations call 412-606-2148 or email venusdirector@aol.com.

About Heather Arnet

Heather Arnet was recently honored with an award for "Art and Activism" from the Thomas Merton Center in recognition for her work incorporating peace activism and social justice with theatre arts. Arnet, a CMU graduate, recently was the organizer of the Pittsburgh Lysistrata Project at The Quiet Storm Cafe, directed Beth Amsbary's Priestess of Plenty at the Frick Historical Museum, and performed in and directed her play Superheroes, Artists, and Other Fly Things at the Making A Scene Event in downtown Pittsburgh. Prior to moving to Pittsburgh, Arnet participated as a director for the NYC International Fringe Festival and New York New Playwrights Festival, directed an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's Salome for the Chelsea Playhouse, and directed the world premiere of Joyce Carol Oates', I Stand Before You Naked, II at the Harold Clurman Theatre on 42nd Street. Arnet’s work explores social, political, and cultural themes, through the presentation of new theatrical performance forms and stories with emphasis on multidisciplinary artistic collaboration.

About Mary Miller

A professional dancer and choreographer since 1968, Ms. Miller is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Mary Miller Dance Company which is about to begin its 19th season. Renowned and appreciated for her sense of humor and directness in her dance, Ms. Miller’s audiences eagerly await her perspective on the issue at hand. She has dealt with serious topics, such as grief in In the Silence, Veiling; with esoteric subjects, such as in Clouds, Angels and Constellations; and with imaginative subjects, as in Love Duet, in which the man gets pregnant and the woman subsequently leaves him. Ms. Miller’s creativity has brought audiences to Flush at the Fulton, a performance sponsored by the Kohler Co. which sported five toilets on wheels, and has dealt very pointedly with violence in a way accessible to all audiences with Cows With Guns, a part of the five-year Peace 2001: A Journey into the Millennium series. No stranger to collaboration, Mary Miller has worked with a wide variety of artists, including poets, composers, fiber artists, writers, sculptors, students and schools and a robotics expert. She has collaborated with other dancers, including the year 2000 installation of the Peace 2001 series, Our World: One People, Many Faces, in which she collaborated with UMOJA, an African dance company, and Sriashi Dey, an Odissi dancer.

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