Threaded Order Chronological Order
| re: The revival of 'Night Mother | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 10:11 am EDT 05/31/18 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 10:07 am EDT 05/31/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The revival of 'Night Mother - bobby2 02:41 am EDT 05/31/18 | |
|
|
|
| I love the play. It's a script I read every year at least, not because of its subject, but because of the effortless way Norman crafts the highest stakes parent-child confrontation. It's still perfect piece of writing, for my money. I saw the original production twice, and it made an indelible impression. The revival had two stellar actresses who seemed in different plays. Both had fine moments, but the production staging couldn't find a common turf for the intersection of very disparate acting styles. The play also had a too cozily sit-com friendly set, unlike the stark authenticity of the original (which matches Norman's edict that it must not comment on the characters too expressly.) The understated Falco faced a Mama that seemed twice as large as she needed to be at times. Blethyn had to struggle with an accent, and we were aware of her effort. Falco and, say, Ellen Burstyn or Diane Ladd would've been ideal. I am a big admirer of Blethyn (and even saw her on the London stage back in the day in "Steaming.") But this was not her role, at least with this Jesse. |
|
| reply to this message |
| I saw it too, and felt similarly. | |
| Posted by: GabbyGerard 11:04 am EDT 05/31/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The revival of 'Night Mother - Delvino 10:07 am EDT 05/31/18 | |
|
|
|
| I saw it near the ends of its run. It was the kind of performance that was so sparsely attended, front-of-house staff invited everyone from rear mezzanine down to front mezz and orchestra. I very much agree that the production's biggest problem was the disparate acting styles of its leading ladies. Blethyn's theatricality and Falco's verism were a jarring combination that continually took me out of the alternate reality they were trying to create. It also exacerbated other problems in their casting, including their relative closeness in age: I don't remember if there's anything in the text indicating when Mama had Jesse, but, in this production, it seemed like she would have had to have been a teenage mother (in Kent!). They were not believable as mother and daughter in a play that revolves around the mother-daughter relationship. Blethyn's vocal work was high-pitched and shrill, to the extent that I found her so grating, I understood why Jesse would want to kill herself to escape her. Maybe it was that cozy set, or end-of-run pushing, but I also felt like Mayer's staging tried to find TOO many moments of levity in the script. As soon as tension would build, it would quickly deflate. |
|
| reply to this message |
| re: I saw it too, and felt similarly. | |
| Posted by: bobby2 02:00 am EDT 06/01/18 | |
| In reply to: I saw it too, and felt similarly. - GabbyGerard 11:04 am EDT 05/31/18 | |
|
|
|
| thanks for the info. I'd be curious how you two felt about the movie. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| No strong memory of the film of "Night, Mother," other than about the casting. | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 10:17 am EDT 06/01/18 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 10:14 am EDT 06/01/18 | |
| In reply to: re: I saw it too, and felt similarly. - bobby2 02:00 am EDT 06/01/18 | |
|
|
|
| Spacek, who should be ideal, didn't make a big impression. I do recall that Bancroft didn't strike me as an easy Thelma. My other ideas above -- Diane Ladd or Burstyn -- would've seen logical denizens in Marsha Norman's universe. Bancroft and Spacek didn't feel familial. But it's been a long time since I've seen it. Now, I can see Frances Conroy as Mama, or -- I've posted -- Kathy Bates. I'm sure someone has offered her a chance to play the other role and perhaps she felt she'd leave that defining artistic achievement as a stand-alone in the past. That said: She's not too old to do it, now. Actually, neither is Spacek, who would be heartbreaking as Thelma. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
Time to render: 0.010828 seconds.