Mona
& Mimi

Mona and Mimi is set over one evening in December 1961, a time of great social change, “between the end of the Chatterley ban and the Beatles' first LP”. The play presents a fictionalised encounter between two real women, Mona Best and Mimi Smith, who couldn’t be more unalike, with Mimi personifying the past and Mona the future. Initially all they appear to have in common is that their boys play together in a Liverpool beat group. However, as the play develops, parallels between the two women emerge as both grapple with their personal struggles and the sacrifices inherent in raising a child.

Mona Best, mother of the group’s drummer Pete, is an unconventional woman. She has started a lucrative rock and roll club in the basement of her home and is at this point informally managing the band. Into her life storms Mimi Smith, aunt and guardian of John, the group’s guitarist and singer. Mimi is relentless in her determination to thwart her nephew’s dream to make it as a musician, an ambition she views with contempt. She goes to Mona’s house to stop the signing of a contract with a local music entrepreneur, unaware of Mona’s role in nurturing the band.

'A pity beyond all telling is hid in the heart of love'- WB Yeats

Meet
Our Team