Night, mother

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Nacht, Mutter (Original title: 'night, Mother ) is a multiple award-winning two-person drama by the writer Marsha Norman about a mother-daughter conflict and the daughter's planned suicide .

history

The play was with Kathy Bates as a daughter and Anne Pitoniak as a mother at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge ( Massachusetts premiered) 1983rd It then ran with the same cast at the John Golden Theater on Broadway , and in 2004 in a new edition with Brenda Blethyn and Edie Falco at the Royale Theater. The first Broadway performance received 4 Tony Award nominations. The German premiere took place in 1984 at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus under the direction of Peter Heusch and in the following years there were numerous performances at many other often smaller theaters. The German translation comes from Alissa Walser and was published by Rowohlt-Theater-Verlag .

Nacht, Mutter has been translated into more than 20 languages ​​and received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Hull-Warriner Award and the Drama Desk Award.

Marsha Norman also wrote the script for the 1986 film adaptation , directed by Tom Moore and starring Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft . In contrast to the theater version, the film version also has a few small supporting roles in addition to the two main actors. The film received the rating of particularly valuable from the German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden.

content

Jessie is in her 30s and has epilepsy and depression . She lives with her mother Thelma and tells him at the beginning of the play in an almost unimportant tone while sorting the laundry that she intends to kill herself at the end of the day. Thelma initially thinks this is a bad joke, but then quickly realizes how serious her daughter's plan is. She then tries desperately to change Jessie's mind. Little by little it turns out that Jessie planned her suicide long and in detail. Both now face their past, discuss past conflicts and sum up their lives so far. Thelma does not succeed in dissuading Jessie from her plan, because after carefully weighing all aspects, she continues to believe that it is not worth going on for her. The play finally ends with the daughter's suicide.

review

In a New York Times theater review, Nacht, Mutter is described as one of the most moving and thoughtful plays in recent years.

literature

Web links