'night, Mother: A Play (Mermaid Dramabook) (Paperback)

by Marsha Norman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The subjects are suicide, love, and the meaning of life--as huge as they come; but they are treated with the specificity of threading a needle or choosing the right breakfast for your needs. Humor and pathos pop up as naturally as wild flowers or fences by the roadside; there is devastating psychological accuracy and nothing seems contrived; and there is that bustle of minutely perceived existential details that bespeak the master."--John Simon, New York

"Ever since I first read 'night, Mother it has filled me with the kind of exaltation I experience only in the presence of a major dramatic work..."--Robert Brustein, The New Republic

"If there is such a thing as benign explosion, this play is it: it detonates with startling quietness, showering us with truth, compassion and uncompromising honesty..."--Jack Kroll, Newsweek

"A spare but lyrical dialogue, 'night, Mother probes deeply into the mother-daughter relationship while making a disturbing statement about responsibility and courage. It is as artfully designed as a sonata, rising in each dramatic movement until it arrives at its inevitable destination."--The New York Times Magazine
-- Review

Review

"The subjects are suicide, love, and the meaning of life--as huge as they come; but they are treated with the specificity of threading a needle or choosing the right breakfast for your needs. Humor and pathos pop up as naturally as wild flowers or fences by the roadside; there is devastating psychological accuracy and nothing seems contrived; and there is that bustle of minutely perceived existential details that bespeak the master."--John Simon, New York

"Ever since I first read 'night, Mother it has filled me with the kind of exaltation I experience only in the presence of a major dramatic work..."--Robert Brustein, The New Republic

"If there is such a thing as benign explosion, this play is it: it detonates with startling quietness, showering us with truth, compassion and uncompromising honesty..."--Jack Kroll, Newsweek

"A spare but lyrical dialogue, 'night, Mother probes deeply into the mother-daughter relationship while making a disturbing statement about responsibility and courage. It is as artfully designed as a sonata, rising in each dramatic movement until it arrives at its inevitable destination."--The New York Times Magazine

See all Editorial Reviews

---

Product Details Paperback: 92 pages Publisher: Hill and Wang (August 1, 1983) Language: English ISBN-10: 0374521387 ISBN-13: 978-0374521387 Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #600,913 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

---

Citations (learn more)

30 books cite this book:

• The Ultimate Scene and Monologue Sourcebook: An Actor's Guide to over 1000 Monologues and Dialogues from More Than 300 Contemporary Plays by Ed Hooks on page 60, page 140, and page 184
• The Art of the Playwright by William Packard on page 119, page 133, and Back Matter
• A Reader's Guide to Modern American Drama (Reader's Guide Series (Syracuse, N.Y.).) by Sanford V. Sternlicht on page 215, and page 216
• To Be a Playwright by Janet Neipris on page 95, and page 137
• The Theater Experience by Edwin Wilson on page 258, and page 297

See all 30 books citing this book

---

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	91% buy the item featured on this page: 'night, Mother: A Play (Mermaid Dramabook) 4.9 out of 5 stars (14) $11.05
	3% buy Wit: A Play 4.6 out of 5 stars (57) $11.20
	2% buy Doubt (movie tie-in edition) 4.6 out of 5 stars (30) $11.66
	2% buy The Clean House and Other Plays 4.6 out of 5 stars (10) $12.21

Compare these items   Explore similar items

---

Tags Customers Associate with This Product  (What's this?) Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people. Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below. american drama(3) dead souls and dark alleys(2) plays(2) pulitzer - drama(2) women(2) masterclass theater(1) suicide(1) the best(1) women writers(1) See all 10 tags... Your tags: Add your first tag

Search Products Tagged with   See most popular tags

Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search

No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

---

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

---

 

Customer Reviews

14 Reviews 5 star:  (12) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.9 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 10 of 11 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Swift, taut, chilling play of family, suicide, helplessness., October 25, 1999 By  Christian Engler (Woburn, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    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. 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A devastating portrait of a mother and daughter, October 14, 2006 By  Gregory Baird (Morristown, NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)       "'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. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Most Fearsome Plays of the Past Thirty Years, October 10, 2006 By  Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)       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. The play is brilliantly constructed, performed in "real time" without any scene changes or intermission; the characters--and the equally vivid people they discuss but whom we never see--are equally well rendered. There are moments are laughter, even more moments of insight, but the play is progressively intense, progressively dark, with all the power of a noose that slowly tightens around your neck. One of the most fearsome bits of theatre of the past thirty years or so, easily the equal of such legendary works as Albee's WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Recommended. GFT, Amazon Reviewer		Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Terse, Direct, and Chilling Convinced she has no control over her own life, Jessie Cates resolves to end it. But this is not an impulse decision. Read more Published 5 months ago by Kevin L. Nenstiel 5.0 out of 5 stars 'Day, Mother My mother called. She is an actress in the national theater in Izmir, Turkey. This is her last year before retirement after 40 years of service. Read more Published 6 months ago by Erol Esen 5.0 out of 5 stars I'm tired, I'm hurt, I'm sad, I feel used. `Night Mother, a 1983 Pulitzer Prize winning play deserves just that! This one act play with simply two characters was unlike something I have read. Read more Published 9 months ago by Rizzo 5.0 out of 5 stars Gaining an Insight on a Difficult Topic I thoroughly enjoyed this play. I watched the film awhile back, and since I wanted to change choose different films for my Film Appreciation class, I decided to review the play... Read more Published on May 14, 2007 by E. Begody 5.0 out of 5 stars Great play This is one of my favorite plays of all time. it's a great discussion on the issue of suicide. There's one line Ive always remebered: When the daughter is trying to justify the... Read more Published on August 4, 2005 by Jen C. 4.0 out of 5 stars Mother, mother.... *I did not read this, but saw it recently on Broadway at the Royale Theatre. 'night, Mother is a hell of a play. Read more Published on January 6, 2005 by Aco 5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Dreams Michael Russo This play only has two characters, has one main plot, one setting, and is one conversation. Read more Published on December 8, 2003 by michael russo 5.0 out of 5 stars A Mother's and Daughter's Goodbye To One Another 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? Read more Published on April 1, 2003 by Miss Sophia 4.0 out of 5 stars Suicide done right Marsha Norman, 'night, Mother (Hill and Wang, 1983) What a refreshing piece of work-- a sparse, clear-headed play that examines the ramifications of suicide and (for once)... Read more Published on June 28, 2001 by Robert P. Beveridge 5.0 out of 5 stars A dark, taut play that explores mother/daughter bond. Night, Mother is a play that covers every aspect of human life: love, family bonds, importance and usefulness in society, to a slew of others too numerous to count. Read more Published on October 26, 1999 by Christian Engler Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

---

Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)

New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.

This product's forum (0 discussions)   Discussion Replies Latest Post   No discussions yet Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight Start a new discussion Topic: First post: Receive e-mail when new posts are made Prompts for sign-in   [Cancel] Guidelines Active discussions in related forums   Discussion Replies Latest Post health Obama's health care plan will destroy alternative medicine 207 10 minutes ago health Single-Payer: For Congressmembers Only? 69 53 minutes ago health My daughter has ulcerative colitis...help! 64 1 hour ago health flow dreaming 2 1 hour ago women Have You Written a Woman's Book-Come Tell Us About It 109 4 hours ago women writers Indie Publishers 7 2 days ago women do people reallu like sex? 29 2 days ago

The Plays community Latest activity 1 day ago 651 customers have contributed 937 products, 66 lists & guides and more... › Explore the community The Women community Latest activity 34 minutes ago 10,065 customers have contributed 27,231 products, 1,052 lists & guides and more... › Explore the community The Women Writers community Latest activity 6 hours ago 2,205 customers have contributed 12,555 products, 266 lists & guides and more... › Explore the community Related forums health (523 discussions) plays (1 discussion) women (64 discussions) women writers (12 discussions) Explore more › See all Customer Communities › Your communities

---

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Be the first person to add an article about this item at Amapedia.com.

› See featured Amapedia.com articles

---

Listmania!

excellent plays that should be read: A list by   10 Best Contemporary Plays: A list by "fivegreenacts"   My Favorite Theatre: A list by Brian Create a Listmania! list

Search Listmania!

---

So You'd Like to...

Read some amazing plays: A guide by I. Vine   Improve as a Playwright: A guide by Kevin L. Nenstiel "omnivore" Create a guide

Search Guides

---

Look for Similar Items by Category

• Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Theater > General
• Health, Mind & Body > Death & Grief > Suicide
• Literature & Fiction > Drama > General
• Literature & Fiction > Drama > United States

---

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Drama texts, plays
Suicide
Drama
Plays / Drama
Plays
American
Drama / American
Drama Texts, Plays & Screenplays


i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

---

Shop in a Box with Power-Tool Combo Packs Expand your tool collection with a versatile combo pack. Our extensive line of combo packs includes air tools and convenient cordless power tools. ›Shop combo packs

Best Books of 2008 Find our top 100 editors' picks as well as customers' favorites in dozens of categories in our Best Books of 2008 Store.

Buy Three Books, Get a Fourth Free Order any four eligible books under $10 and get the lowest-price book free in our 4-for-3 Books Store. See more details.

Paint with Flying Colors Paint sprayers can spread paint, stains, and clear finishes faster than any brush or roller. ›Shop all paint sprayers

 

Feedback If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? Is there any other feedback you would like to provide? Your comments can help make our site better for everyone. Please note that we are unable to respond directly to all feedback submitted via this form, but we'll ask you to sign in so we can contact you if needed.

Where's My Stuff? Track your recent orders. View or change your orders in Your Account. Shipping & Returns See our shipping rates & policies. See FREE shipping information. Return an item (here's our Returns Policy). Need Help? Forgot your password? Buy gift cards. Visit our Help department.

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)

You have no recently viewed items or searches. After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.	Continue shopping: Top Sellers Paranoia by Joseph Finder 4.1 out of 5 stars (183)$0.00 Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck 3.7 out of 5 stars (187)$6.59 Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck 3.7 out of 5 stars (187)$6.59 Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning 3.7 out of 5 stars (214)$0.00

Amazon.com Home  |   Directory of All Stores

International Sites:  Canada  |  United Kingdom  |  Germany  |  Japan  |  France  |  China

Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Build an eCommerce Site  |  Advertise With Us  |  Developer Services  |  Self-Publish with Us

Help  |  View Cart  |  Your Account  |  1-Click Settings

Investor Relations  |  Press Releases  |  Careers at Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage

Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates

Product Details

• Paperback: 92 pages
• Publisher: Hill and Wang (August 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374521387
• ISBN-13: 978-0374521387
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #600,913 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Swift, taut, chilling play of family, suicide, helplessness., October 25, 1999

By	Christian Engler (Woburn, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A devastating portrait of a mother and daughter, October 14, 2006

By	Gregory Baird (Morristown, NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"'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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Most Fearsome Plays of the Past Thirty Years, October 10, 2006

By	Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

The play is brilliantly constructed, performed in "real time" without any scene changes or intermission; the characters--and the equally vivid people they discuss but whom we never see--are equally well rendered. There are moments are laughter, even more moments of insight, but the play is progressively intense, progressively dark, with all the power of a noose that slowly tightens around your neck. One of the most fearsome bits of theatre of the past thirty years or so, easily the equal of such legendary works as Albee's WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer