Matt Cosper's Mum's the Word comes home

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Early in 2010, Mum's the Word - a Machine Theatre production - made its preemptive strike in Plaza-Midwood, winning CL's Best Original Show award and cinching Theaterperson of the Year honors for its playwright/director, Matt Cosper. No doubt buoyed by these accolades, Cosper left town for more than a year and then took his award-winning show to the New Orleans Fringe Festival. Now back in the Queen City, Mum's the Word has evolved with "new text, new design elements, and new dances," according to Cosper. It moves from its debut spot at Patchwerk Playhaus on Central Avenue to Duke Energy Theater at Spirit Square.

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Lauren Dortch Crozier and Robert Lee Simmons play the uniquely unqualified parents who impulsively venture outside their comfort zones - and our nation's borders - to adopt a child, but Biniam Tekola is still the full-grown, pistol-packing Somali hoodlum who shows up on their doorstep instead of the promised bundle of joy. The discrepancy does not prevent the delusional new mum from naming her child Tyler, swaddling him in a blanket and delighting in the full nursing experience. $20. Jan. 12, 8 p.m.; Jan. 16-19, 8 p.m. Duke Energy Theater, 345 N. College St. 704-372-1000. www.blumenthalarts.org.