Karin Trachtenberg in “My Mother Had Two Faces.”

When Karin Trachtenberg discovered her late mother’s diaries, she fell into an examination of the history of their complicated relationship. Engaged in dialogue with her reflection, Trachtenberg wrestles with those demons in her one-woman play “My Mother Had Two Faces.”

Easy for anyone struggling with a conflicted parental relationship to appreciate, “My Mother Had Two Faces: Reflections on Beauty, Aging and Acceptance” questions what the mirror uncovers when the makeup is stripped away. It follows Trachtenberg’s mother’s exodus from Switzerland to pursue stardom and the influence her fixation with beauty and outward appearances had on Trachtenberg’s sense of worth.

The play is coming from a world premiere in Los Angeles and after Somerville will feature in the United Solo theater festival in New York on March 14 and Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.

• “My Mother Had Two Faces,” by Karin Trachtenberg, directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson, is at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville, at 2 p.m. March 3. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.