Hi to everyone at Broadway World! This is my first of hopefully many posts to come.
I am apart of a local community theater and there is an actress in her 50s that I strongly resemble and she and I have such a strong bond. She has told me, "You find the perfect mother/son play and I'll make sure it happens."
I'm sure there are more musicals ("Next to Normal" immediately comes to mind), but we're wanting a play, as the theater only does one or two musicals in the 10-shows-per-season. Whereas "Night, Mother" was a strong mother/daughter play, I'm having difficulty searching for the perfect mother/son play.
In "Night, Mother" the mother/daughter were the only two characters. This doesn't have to be a two-person play, but we definitely want one where the core relationship is the bond (or lack of a bond?) between the mother/son.
There are obvious classics like Glass Menagerie, or Inge's The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (though I suppose the son in Stairs would probably be too young for you.) Hrmmm, it seems like there should be many more (there are a lot of father/son ones of course), but I'm drawing a blank.
Thanks so much for all of the suggestions and quick replies, guys! I've added all of these to a cart on Amazon.com, with the exception of "Platinum."
I can't find anything on a play called "Platinum." If you don't mind would you please give a brief description of it and link me to where the book could be purchased?
The only Platinum I know is the late 70s flop musical, staring Alexis Smith... I think it's about a recording star--at any rate, the suggestion was a joke, so I wouldn't bother trying to track it down (even if you could)--though I had no idea it had a son character...
The Glass Menagerie has one of the most potent Mother-Son relationships in American Theater. Also, a cast of four makes it custom-made for small-budget resources.
If you looking for a mother-from-hell play, there is none better than LONG DAYS JOURNEY INTO NIGHT. There are four great scenes between Mary and Edmund culminating in one that is so chilling the audience doesn't know whether to cry or be angry.
A Loss of Roses is a great choice, and deserves to be seen more, though you need to make sure you have at least one other very strong woman (I guess that's true of a lot of these plays, like Menagerie).
A Breeze from the Gulf, Mart Crowley The Shadow Box, Michael Cristofer (depending on age - the son may be too young; although there is a good scene with brian, beverly and mark) The Goat
There are also the bigger american dramas that feature family dynamics Long Day's Journey Death of a Salesman The Glass menagerie Cat - although the big mama isn't as tasty as amanda
I am overwhelmed with all of these choices! Theatre people really know their stuff! I have made an entire list of the plays you all suggested and put a synopsis under each one. I am always trying to build my play collection, so I figured I would start out with five. If I'm not satisfied with the first five I've selected, I'll just order five more! The ones I ended up choosing for the first batch to read are...
1. "Bosoms and Neglect" by John Guare
2. "And Things That Go Bump in the Night" by Terrence McNally
3. "Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad" by Arthur L. Kopit