Review: SON OF A BITCH at Southwark Playhouse Borough

 

Photo credit: Karla Gowlett

Date: 28th February 2025 

Stars: 4

You know that moment when a toddler kicks off mid-flight, and you think, thank God that’s not my kid? Well, in Son of a Bitch, it is Marnie’s kid. And worse still, the internet is watching. 

After turning heads at the Edinburgh Fringe, Anna Morris’s razor-sharp one-woman play has landed at Southwark Playhouse Borough, bringing with it a tidal wave of dark comedy, brutal honesty, and the kind of social commentary that makes you squirm while you laugh. This isn’t your mum blog version of parenting. This is motherhood unfiltered, uncensored, and completely off the rails. 

Marnie is a yoga teacher. Or at least, she was before she found herself at the centre of a viral scandal so big it could make a Kardashian blush. One second, she’s just another busy (overwhelmed) mum juggling life. The next? She’s been caught on camera, mid-air, calling her four-year-old son… well, let’s just say, it’s not a term of endearment. And it rhymes with ‘hunt. ’ As in the witch hunt that follows. 

Cue internet outrage, talk show debates, and a full-scale digital crucifixion. Cancel culture has spoken, and it turns out the internet doesn’t take kindly to exasperated mothers having a human moment. 

But Son of a Bitch isn’t just about one woman’s social media downfall. It’s a hilarious and horrifying deep dive into the impossible standards of modern parenting, the fake perfection of Instagram mums, and the cold, hard reality of raising a tiny human. 


Photo credit: Steve Gregson


If you don’t know Anna Morris, fix that immediately. She’s a comedy force of nature, switching between characters with effortless precision – one minute she’s Marnie, desperately trying to salvage her reputation; the next, she’s the smug school mum, the selfish husband, or the well-meaning but ultimately exasperating grandparents. 

This show is brutally honest. Son of a Bitch doesn’t tiptoe around the guilt, frustration, and sheer madness of motherhood – it kicks the door down and yells, “WHY ARE WE PRETENDING THIS IS EASY?” 

It’s also hysterically funny. The script is packed with witty one-liners, pitch-perfect satire, and painfully relatable moments. It’s also scarily relevant. Cancel culture, internet pile-ons, and the insane double standards of motherhood in the digital age? Morris doesn’t just poke fun at them – she eviscerates them. 

Final verdict: Watch it. Seriously.

If you’ve ever:

  • Rolled your eyes at a too-perfect Instagram mum
  • Wondered why dads get applauded for babysitting their own kids
  • Wanted to scream into a pillow because you just. need. five. minutes. alone. 

then Son of a Bitch will speak to your soul. 

Anna Morris is at her absolute best, delivering a show that is as hilarious as it is painfully accurate. Whether you’re a parent, thinking about becoming one, or just fascinated by how the internet ruins lives for sport, this play is a must-watch. 

Son of a Bitch is at Southwark Playhouse Borough until 15th March, and tickets are available here: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/son-of-a-bitch/





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