The final instalment of the ?Ya Mama? trilogy from writer Patricia Pogson-Nesbitt will be coming to the City Hall Theatre stage tomorrow night.

The trilogy has followed the lives of Mama and her five daughters ? Muriel, Dinah, Prudy, Darlene and Lovey.

While this play is set only four months after the events of the second instalment, ?Ya Mama: Westgate Family Vacation? ? big changes are in store for the family.

(The first instalment of the series was titled ?Ya Mama: Dishin The Dirt?.)

Cast members told this week that their characters have grown and matured and audiences can expect to see some changes as their dramatic journeys come to an end in ?Ya Mama: Ya Not Gettin? A Divorce?.

Shawnette Griffith, who is stepping into the role of Muriel, said when her character was last seen she was spending all of her time at Mama?s house and was assumed to be in a bad relationship.

?Her entire family had assumed that her husband was messing around because he didn?t treat her very nice and whenever she got mad, she?d go running to Mama?s house,? Ms Griffith said.

?But the truth of the matter is that she had a talk with him and she found out that he liked certain things and things have fallen into place. The family can?t believe it because their suspicions were wrong.?

While new to the role of Muriel, Ms Griffith is familiar with the theatre and has worked with Ms Pogson-Nesbitt on plays in the past.

?I had worked behind the scenes and, this year, I decided that I had to get back out on the stage and the woman who was playing Muriel in the previous episodes couldn?t do it this time, so Pat asked me to play the part.?

Ms Pogson-Nesbitt, who penned the trilogy, will also be acting as the show?s director while Marlene Somner is reprising her title role of Mama.

As the trilogy draws to a close one theme will be a clear one ? Mama is reclaiming her home and tossing her daughters out.

To be sure there will be much drama along the way though.

?It has not been easy,? said Mrs. Somner of her character?s storyline. ?But I put my foot down and they are out of here tonight.

?At first it is going to be lonely, but then it is going to be comfortable and I can run from room to room anyway that I want.?

While the title suggests Mama might have one coming back, Mrs. Somner said otherwise: ?They are all out ? everybody is gone.?

Laurel Burns, who plays Lovey, said her character accepts the impending move.

?I am a doctor and I understand where Mama is coming from,? Ms Burns said.

?So, I am not worried about Mama and I am very pleased to be out on my own.?

Ms Burns has been in the trilogy from its inception.

?I have been in it from the very beginning and it has been a real evolution, both in a character and a real sense,? she said.

?It is also a wonderful learning experience on how to live our lives.?

Kathy Ann Paynter, who plays Dinah, said her character is on the way to becoming a wiser woman.

This instalment finds Dinah heavily pregnant with the child of a married man.

?He lied to me and told me that he was going to be there for me, that this was our love child, but it was all crap,? notes Ms Paynter of her character?s predicament.

?The character is 40 years old and it is time for her to handle her business, but I can tell you that she won?t be doing this again,? she said.

Meanwhile, pot-smoking daughter Darlene, played by Melody Albouy, will find her life altered by the events of the final instalment.

?Unfortunately, Mama is making me stay at Dinah?s house with the baby,? Ms Albouy said. ?And so this is an incentive for my character to go away to school.

?Now she can?t wait because Dinah is literally driving her crazy with the baby being up screaming all night.?

Ms Albouy said she loves playing Darlene, as it allows her to be someone completely different.

?I love her character and I get to be so silly ? it is not funny,? she said.

?Darlene gets so excited about her gifts and you know she wants a gold Mercedes with a cream interior.

?She can?t wait just until Christmas so she can get her iPod and her hot outfit. I also mimic Prudy with a little ADHD attached.?

In addition to the daughters, there are many colourful side characters in the story including Aunt Alinda, played by Leighsa Darrell.

Aunt Alinda is Mama?s feisty best friend who likes a little drink.

?I?m just having a good time,? Ms Darrell said of her character. ?I am just making sure that they (the daughters) are doing what they have to do.

?The girls are grown, they are heifers ? they are just living off their mom.?

But Alinda, who always likes a little toddy but is not an untidy drunk, is also staying over.

This will be the debut theatre role for Perry Trott who is playing the part of Dennis, Prudy?s husband (Rhonda Daniels).

?I am Prudy?s second husband,? Mr. Trott said of his character.

?And she is one of those women that just have to have their own way. She is almost like a child ? when you turn your head one way they are gone. That is my wife.?

Dennis is a workaholic and although Prudy is aware of his love, he does not always show it.

?I acknowledge that he works hard and that he gives me whatever I want, but he is never there,? Mrs. Daniels said of Prudy?s dilemma.

?I want him to take me out and I understand that he wants to go to the bar before he comes home, but he does it all the time and especially on special occasions (she finds it frustrating).?

For Mr. Trott getting the role was a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

Mrs. Pogson and Mrs. Daniels were at the Ocean View Golf Club when Mrs. Pogson spotted him.

?Pat saw him and then she asked me to come over,? said Mrs. Daniels. ?Then she said, ?this is Dennis? and I said, ?you are right?, because he just had that look.

?So, I said ?well, if he is Dennis, let?s see if can he pick me up? and he picked me up... like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold and that is how he got the part.?

Before this meeting, Mr. Trott had never had any interest in theatre or acting.

?I had never been to a play actually,? he said.

?But after working with these remarkable women, I can go to a production and appreciate what it took to get to the stage. So, the experience has given me a new outlook on theatre.?

When Mr. Trott joined the cast they had already begun rehearsals, but he has gone from being a shy guy to one that gives as good as he gets.

?One of the things that I like about Pat is that she doesn?t look for people who do it all the time she likes to give people an opportunity,? Mrs. Daniels added.

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n (( For more information please contact Eugene Dean at 292-4341.