'night, Mother
The title to Marsha Norman's rarely performed drama is also Velma's cue that her daughter Jesse is about to commit suicide. For 90 taut, intermissionless minutes, Velma cajoes, wrangles, whimpers, and finally explodes as she probes Jesse for reasons (and tries to determine where she went wrong). And Jesse, a compulsive organizer, fights not with her choice but to prepare her mother for what will follow her saying "night, mother." In effect, Jesse wants to "go gently," Velma won't let her, and the play enacts Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy in the flesh. Last November, Sylfia M'Lafi Thompson and Yolanda Franklin did a staged reading for ion theatre. Their connection was so electric, ion is giving it a full production with first-class acting, intense interplay, deeply gouged emotions, and, surprisingly, humor. Ion's little BLKBX theater, with a homey, detailed set and Karin Filijan's moody lighting, provide the perfect venue for this rarely performed, 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winner.
When
Ongoing until Saturday, February 7, 2015
Hours
| Thursdays, 8pm |
| Fridays, 8pm |
| Saturdays, 4pm & 8pm |