Lisa recently joined me for a cup of coffee and a chat at Starbucks, and it struck me that her unrivaled ability to find humor in daily tasks contributes to her myriad of successes in these roles. It is certainly the key to the success of The MOMologues, which she wrote with co-creators Stefanie Coutier and Sheila Eppolito in the year 2000, and then brought to life on stage for the first time in the year 2002. The play unleashes the humor in motherhood -- to which any mother can relate – while preserving its joy and beauty. The play pokes fun at everything from labor and delivery to discipline to gender differences, rousing hysterical laughter in the audience. During one performance in New Hampshire, Lisa said, two rows of women stood up and chanted, “It’s not just us! It’s not just us!” A mother also has to be prepared to cry, though, as The MOMologues also celebrates the tender moments that make motherhood such a poignant role founded in inexplicable love.

When I asked her what her inspiration for The MOMologues was, Lisa, who earned a Master’s Degree in Theater at Montclair State University, simply stated, “Moms are funny people! My gosh, moms are funny people!” She relayed that, given she had three children under the age of four in the year 2000, much time had passed since she had directed a play. She was ready to direct again, so she asked her friend, Stefanie, who is an actress, to collaborate on a 15-minute comedic monologue on motherhood. “Writing about motherhood,” Lisa says, “is therapeutic. Writing about motherhood and making it funny is like therapy on steroids.”

Lisa, of course, used the most appropriate resources when writing The MOMologues: other mothers. She emailed a questionnaire to a bunch of mom friends; it included the question: “What are three things you swore you would never do as a mother but now do everyday?” With laughter, Lisa said to me, “I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that I would be caught dead before driving a minivan.” Lisa then drove a minivan for five years.

The response to Lisa’s questionnaire was overwhelming, and the funny yet genuine answers became her muse to develop a one-act version of the The MOMologues. Its success then inspired Lisa, Stefanie and Sheila to develop a full-length version which premiered in Boston on May 3, 2002 at the ICA Theatre. After a sold-out 2002 run in Boston, the show returned for another sell-out run in 2003, prompting the creators to begin work on a sequel. Meanwhile, the original MOMologues moved to Boston’s theater district in 2004, and also traveled to three other New England theatres, including the South Shore’s own Company Theatre. The MOMologues took the stage twice in New York City – the first time on Theater Row in a benefit performance for The Valerie Fund, which sponsors clinics for children with cancer. The performance featured two soap opera stars and two Broadway actresses.

The sequel, MOMologues2: Off to School details the elementary school experience and debuted in 2005 at the Regent Theatre in Arlington. The sequel was subsequently seen at Company Theatre and at the Palace Theater in New Hampshire. MOMologues2: Off to School then visited Chicago for a one-night performance.  Most recently, Tony award winning Broadway actresses delivered MOMologues2: Off to School in a benefit performance for the Susan G. Komen Foundation in Greenwich Village, New York.

After its success in New England and Chicago, a Dutch version of the show premiered in Europe and traveled 30 cities throughout the Netherlands. This professional production featured Dutch actresses from film and television. The year 2006 brought The MOMologues back to Holland and then to Belgium in 2007. The show will return to Belgium in 2009.

Most recently, Lisa directed “The Best of The MOMologues” at Scituate High School as a fundraiser for the SEA, of which she was president for three years. The show raised more than $5,000 after attracting a full house. The women she chose to deliver the monologues represented all schools in Scituate: Jane McGovern, Debbie Donovan, Lynne Griffin, Maura Curran, Lisa Fenton, Erica McDermott, Melissa Boynton and Cinda Donavan. These women range in roles from principal of Wampatuck School in Scituate to the former Chairperson of the Scituate School Committee. Lisa commends each of these women because they took a risk; only Cinda Donovan is a professional actress and veteran MOMologues cast member. I, however, can personally attest to their comical deliveries as inspired and brilliant.

When I asked Lisa why she chose the SEA as the recipient of the funds, the obvious answer was that she and her husband, Steve, have three children in the Scituate school system – Megan (age 14), Molly (age 12), and Conor (age 10). But, she also said she “was attracted to the SEA” when she moved to Scituate eight years ago “because it had a dynamic group of very smart women running it.”  Lisa also likes the fact that the SEA represents all Scituate schools and all grade levels, giving her the opportunity to advocate for and contribute to education in the Scituate school system via a much broader venue.

Lisa directed this most recent production of The Best of The MOMologues at the tail end of breast cancer treatment. She received her diagnosis on November 20, 2007 and is now cancer free. Lisa is pragmatic, and it was with pragmatism that she addressed her breast cancer. When she received her diagnosis, her first words were, “OK. What do we need to do first?” Lisa followed protocol with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. But, she never allowed herself to stay in bed in the morning. She lessened her hours as the drama teacher at Notre Dame Academy in Hingham and requested a co-director for a production of Joseph and the Tehnicolor Dream Coat at the Cohasset Dramatic Club. But, she did not quit. “I kept everything,” Lisa said, “but I kept everything at half pace.”

Lisa continued, “My motto was that I am not going to let the terrorists win, meaning – in my mind – the cancer was like a terrorist invasion of my body, and if I stopped directing or if I stopped teaching or if I stopped being my son’s Little League coach, then the terrorists won and I lost. And I did not want the cancer to win. I did not want the cancer to win.” Lisa admitted difficulty, saying there were mornings she felt too sick to get out of bed; but, being productive allowed her to say – at the end of every day – “I did it!”

I asked Lisa if a cancer diagnosis changed her outlook on life. She said, “No. I was already the type of person who tried to take advantage of every day. All those clichés about living life to its fullest . . . that was me before cancer, I hope.” Like all of us, Lisa has witnessed people she loves suffer tragedy. Bearing witness has been enough to give her a heightened sense of how precious life is. She continued, “Cancer didn’t make me say, ‘Now, I’m going to live life to its fullest.’ Hopefully I was already doing that.”

Lisa’s next project, in addition to writing MOM3 with her co-creators, is a comedic one-act play about breast cancer. Lisa says her brain is predisposed to ask, “How is breast cancer funny? We all know that it’s tragic, but how is it funny? Making it funny . . . that’s what separates the men from the boys.”

Before saying goodbye, I complimented Lisa on her successes, most of which are allocated to worthy causes, and told her I admire her courage. Lisa simply answered, “Oh well, you know, we’re all the same at the end of the day. Our kids still sass us back and we still get breast cancer.”

Lisa lives and laughs, and it has proven to be a successful foundation for her. This foundation benefits not only her but anyone near her. Finding humor in otherwise mundane moments not only makes us laugh but also gives significance to that which is otherwise ordinary.

Please visit www.MOMologues.com for more information.