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“‘Night, Mother”By Marsha Norman�
DIRECTOR:
Samuel Eisenhuth
AUDITIONS:
11/03/2024 (Sun) & 11/04/2024 (Mon) @ 7:00 PM
LTM | 915 S York St • Mechanicsburg PA 17055
SHOWS:
01/10/2025 (Fri) through 01/26/2025 (Sun)
- Thursday-Saturday Shows @ 7:30 PM
- Sunday Matinees @ 2:30 PM
LTM | 915 S York St • Mechanicsburg PA 17055
SUMMARY:
This eloquent, enthralling and ultimately shattering play explores the final hour in the life of a young woman who has decided that life is no longer worth living.
STORY: The scene is the living room/kitchen of a small house on an isolated country road, which is shared by Jessie and her mother. Jessie’s father is dead; her loveless marriage ended in divorce; her absent son is a petty thief and ne’er-do-well; her last job didn’t work out and, in general, her life is stale and unprofitable. As the play begins Jessie asks for her father’s service revolver and calmly announces that she intends to K*ll herself. At first her mother refuses to take her seriously, but as Jessie sets about tidying the house and making lists of things to be looked after, her sense of desperate helplessness begins to build. In the end, with the inexorability of genuine tragedy, she can only stand by, stunned and unbelieving, as Jessie quietly closes and locks her bedroom door and ends her profound unhappiness in one fatal, stunning and deeply disturbing moment—a moment never to be forgotten by those who have witnessed, and come to understand, her plight.
CAST NEEDS:
- JESSIE CATES
A divorced woman who lives with her widowed mother. She has epilepsy and has experienced seizures most of her life. Nothing in life has worked out for this woman, including raising a son who turned out to be a disappointing loser. She has suffered with severe chronic depression that has never been treated. In the play, her long-standing despair has been temporarily relieved by a decision that has her uncharacteristically peaceful and talkative. The usual grayness and unsteady physical energy of this woman have given way to a new purpose that is expressed in productivity and detached humor.
- THELMA "MAMA" CATES
A widow, she is starting to feel her age and has easily allowed her depressed daughter to come and take care of all the details of her life. She sees life as she wants it to be, rather than how it is. She speaks quickly and enjoys talking. She is a simple country woman who never wanted much and could find a way to be happy with whatever she had, even if it meant lying to herself and others. She has no need for intimacy in relationships, but is energized by social situations.
NOTES:
The performance contains discussion of sensitive topics such as mental illness, depression, and suicidal ideation.
HISTORY:
Winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
'NIGHT, MOTHER is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com)
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
915 S York St, Mechanicsburg, PA, United States, Pennsylvania 17055
