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'Night Mother. First Edition Edition

by
Marsha Norman (Author)
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Marsha Norman (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 40 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0822208211
ISBN-10: 0822208210
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 66 pages
  • Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.; First Edition edition (January 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0822208210
  • ISBN-13: 978-0822208211
  • Product Dimensions: 0.2 x 5.5 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsSwift, taut, chilling play of family, suicide, helplessness.
By Christian Engler on October 25, 1999
Format: Paperback
Night, Mother is a sharp, terse play that examines the issue of hopelessness in all areas and facets of life. What is hopelessness, and how does it come about? This play looks at one aspect of suicide and its eventual cause: the loss of one's self, one's identity. The dialogues between Mother and Jessie are intense, but yet there is a separateness, a barrier that can not be broken between the two. They are united together by their relation, but it ends there. The mother/daughter relationship in this play is quite believeable -- albeit sad and unfortunate. Night, Mother is a dark, chilling play that leaves a pondering imprint on your mind long after the last page has been read.
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5.0 out of 5 starsOne of the Most Fearsome Plays of the Past Thirty Years
By Gary F. Taylor HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on October 10, 2006
Format: Paperback
Marsha Norman's 1983 Pulitizer Prize-winning 'NIGHT, MOTHER is frequently described as a play "about suicide." Although the play does indeed deal with suicide, this is actually a shallow designation; it is about a lot of things, but most particularly control: who has it, who wants it, and the extent a person will go to obtain it.

The play involves two characters: Thelma, an elderly woman, and Jessie, her middle-aged daughter. They have lived together in an isolated house on a rural road for a number of years. Thelma describes herself as "a plain country woman;" she enjoys life in a fundamental way, not expecting more than she already knows, watching television, knitting, nibbling at sweets, and enjoying regular visits from her son and his family. Jessie, who suffers from epilepsy and is divorced, has become something of a recluse, and her life consists largely of managing her mother's home and thinking on the past. One evening, as the play begins, Jessie informs Thelma that she has decided to kill herself right after she gives Thelma her weekly manicure.

Thelma does not take Jessie seriously at first; clearly there have been too many scenes between the two for Jessie's statement to have any real meaning for her. But Jessie is serious indeed, and over the course of an hour and a half the play evolves into a battle of wits, Jessie determined to kill herself, Thelma equally determined to prevent her from it. In the process, we learn quite a bit about the family and their lives and the various emotional and factual secrets the women have hidden from each other over the years.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsA devastating portrait of a mother and daughter
By Gregory Baird VINE VOICE on October 14, 2006
Format: Paperback
"'night, Mother" is a tour de force conversation between a mother, Thelma, and her daughter, Jessie, who has just told her that she is going to commit suicide at the end of the night. The play is a taut high-wire act that leaves you spellbound as Thelma tries to convince her daughter not to go through with it and Jessie sternly insists. Thelma and Jessie are extremely dimensional, deep characters with an achingly believable relationship. Through the course of their conversation it becomes apparent that there is a yawning chasm between them despite their seeming closeness, and while Thelma thinks that the two can put it right Jessie doesn't believe it -- or want to try. The fierce, emotional back-and-forth between Mother and daughter keeps you on the edge of your seat. The dialogue is very natural and believable, and the playwright, Marsha Norman, displays an extraordinary acuity for what her characters are feeling and have gone through to reach this point. Norman has crafted a devastating portrait of two women that leaves an enormous impact on the reader. I only finished it two hours ago, but I seriously doubt that "night, Mother" will be leaving my thoughts any time soon. Highly recommended -- but keep the Kleenex on hand, just in case.
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5.0 out of 5 starsA Mother's and Daughter's Goodbye To One Another
By SMF on April 1, 2003
Format: Paperback
What if your daughter or son came into the living room, and she or he told you that he or she was going to end her or his life? How would you respond? What would you do? And the question is what can you do?
Mama thinks that her and her daughter are having a normal night at the house until she finds out that her daughter has planned to end her life. At first, Thelma "Mama" thinks that Jessie is kidding when she says that she wants to shoot herself. When Thelma realizes that Jessie is serious, the conflict begins between the struggle of life and death which is out of Thelma's hands.
Thelma stalls and tries to find out why Jessie wants to end her life. In the small amount of time between life and death, Thelma finds out more about her daughter than she ever did in her entire time with while she releases secrets and concerns that she never revealed to her daughter.
'Night Mother is a play that unwinds spellbound confessions and displays intense emotions that run through the course of people lives. Jessie and Thelma are powerful characters that makes me feel like I am there with them in the room. Jessie, in the first time in her life, feels like she has a sense of control, and death is freeing her as she sees life imprisoning her. The whole play is intriguing and complex. The ending will make you feel like you have realized that life is complex and question why you exist as a human being.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsa mother-daughter play about life, love lost, depression and suicide

Marsha Norman's play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1983. It's set in a small house on a lonely, country road. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Frank L. Greenagel Jr.
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat value

Great value. Arrived on time and in great shape. Have recommended to all in school.

Published 1 month ago by g. morgan
5.0 out of 5 starsIt was an amazing play and I am thrilled to have a copy ...

One of the most powerful plays I have ever seen. I saw it on Broadway in the early 80's starring Kathy Bates. It was an amazing play and I am thrilled to have a copy of the script. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Alaska Kate
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat play

Loved it.

Published 4 months ago by Bluebird006
1.0 out of 5 starsVery disappointed!!

Not at all what I expected. Very disappointed!!

Published 6 months ago by Misti Sykes
5.0 out of 5 starsAmazing!

'Night Mother has quickly become one of my favorite plays. It is witty, suspenseful, emotional and thought provoking. Read more

Published 6 months ago by SW
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great

Published 7 months ago by Utica L.
5.0 out of 5 starsGood

Happy with purchase.

Published 7 months ago by Aubrianna L Rose
5.0 out of 5 starsGREAT PLAY! Very dark subject matter

GREAT PLAY! Very dark subject matter. Heartbreaking, actually, but a genius play with amazing roles for two women.

Published 8 months ago by Chloe Mack
5.0 out of 5 starsRuns the risk of being over-dramatic if not directed with a sturdy...

Fabulous. Explores the deep pit of despair and loneliness. Runs the risk of being over-dramatic if not directed with a sturdy hand and does not have the right actresses in the... Read more

Published 9 months ago by patrick

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