Celebrate mothers everywhere with the Listen to Your Mother Show.  Launched by Ann Imig in Madison, WI two years ago, the show gives local writers a platform to gather and present their work on motherhood, under the slogan “Giving Mother’s Day a Microphone.” LTYM was met with such success and demand that Imig rolled it out in ten cities in 2012: Austin, Chicago, Madison, New York City, Northwest Arkansas, Northwest Indiana, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Spokane and Washington DC. Born of the creative work of mothers who publish online, each production is directed, produced, and performed by local communities, for local communities, with (at least) 10 percent of ticket proceeds benefiting a local non-profit cause.  The videos of past shows are smart and funny and heartwarming and inspiring.

The May 6 performance at the Synetic Theater at Crystal City featured live readings by some of DC’s most talented newer and veteran writers and bloggers: Chrissy Boylan, Sarah Braesch, Nicole Crowley, Anna Whiston-Donaldson, Lindsay Felix, Lis Fogt, Cindy Green, Devra Gordon Renner, Monica Sakala, Elena Sonnino, Sue Wagner and Jean Winegardner.  The first reading by Cindy Green, titled “The Mother Warrior,” set the theme for the 2012 show. Cindy read, “The universal concepts of motherhood are of gentleness, self-sacrifice and unconditional love. And this is all true. But there is another part of motherhood that is just as vital – the primal, overwhelming desire to defend and fight for what is best for our children.”  All of the essays expressed this image of mothers as everyday warriors, fighting the good fight in motherhood – for their children and for themselves. The stories presented celebrate the power of motherhood.