What may appear at first glance to be a very 'dark play' ... "night Mother" treats a very 'dark subject' with a lot of light on humanity and a lot of humor about relationships, family, and everyday life, in a very smartly written and tightly paced production now at MainLine Theatre by Altera Vitae.
The story behind Marsha Norman's Pulitzer Prize winning play for Drama in 1983, is of a middle-aged women, Jessie (Alexandra Valassis), who one random autumn Saturday evening tells her mother that she is going to end her life. Her mother, Thelma (Sandy Ferguson), first thinks her daughter is bluffing, and when she realizes her daughter is intent on suicide she tries to talk her out of it, much like she would talk her out of doing anything for herself. A normal reaction of a mother who’s just been told by her daughter that she is going to commit suicide? Maybe? Maybe not? She had a phne, so why didn't she use it to call for help?
It is soon made clear to us that this IS a typical reaction from this mother to her daughter.
Jessie has a list of things she wants to go over and do before shooting herself. So a typical Saturday evening of catering to her mother ensues, despite what she has planned. The play becomes a discussion between the mother and daughter before 'the inevitable end'. Here is where the play becomes much less about the result as it is about what has lead to Jessie making this the permanent solution to her fatigue with her life. It is soon made very clear that it is about control. Making 'the ultimate' decision to end her life on her own terms. "...I'm ready to get off the bus..."
We understand why Jessie has decided to commit suicide; her life is devoid of anything joyful but for a few household chores, and even though they live together, she and her mother know very little about each other. Jessie wants to control the only thing she feels she truly has control over, her life. If she only had approached 'living' with the same zeal she applies to her own demise it would have been and could have been a whole different play. But, she never lets you doubt she is going to win in the end.
There is plenty of well distributed humour in this reality check on life and family relationships and taking everything for granted. We never feel any sympathy for Jessie, as many of us have had it much worse, and it is a terrible tragedy to give up on life. The story never becomes too maudlin and dark by maintaining a high energy and efficient pacing throughout. We do feel sorry for those she is leaving behind however; She will die, they having never ever really known who she really is or could have been.
The set unfortunately adds an amateur appearance to this production from the outset. This is one area where less would have been more. This is a play that stands on its' own and the excess is distracting from the text and text. There are also some easy to fix blocking issues mostly due to the playing surface and seating at the venue not being attended too. We loose a few special moments with Jessie where making the point that the Mother being the 'only thing' standing between Jessie and her bedroom door has taken precedence.
Alexandra Valassis' Jessie manages to maintain the cool and determined attitude required to convince the audience that she means what she says and not come across as too pathetic. Sandy Fergusons' mother however comes across as too whining and tedious at times making her appear to be somewhat unintelligent, and less appealing for us to endure. We relate to Jessie's desire to leave her Mother behind, but that isn't the intent of the play. Overall the production runs rather flawlessly with very strong performances by both actresses.
The play features some haunting original music, A CD is available for purchase to benefit suicideaftermath.com
Directed by Jesse Crobeil, produced by Caroly-Fe Trinidad.
Plays evenings at (8pm) to March 30th with (2pm) matinées on Sat. & Sun. to March 30th. Reservations: 514 935-7277 #105 or askus@altervitea.com
Reviewed by Davyn Ryall
http://deearrhasapoint.blogspot.com
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