‘Mother Play’ Review: Jessica Lange Is an Unhinged Delight in Dysfunctional Family Drama on Broadway
26.04.2024 - 01:51
/ variety.com
Aramide Tinubu There is no handbook on motherhood, but most people try their best when it comes to childrearing. Today, amid increasingly accessible resources and freedoms that weren’t afforded in the past, parenting has undoubtedly changed. However, “Mother Play,” written by Paula Vogel, is not a story about modern-day mothers.
Instead, it’s a tale centering on a bitter, disillusioned woman, Phyllis (Jessica Lange), who feels duped by the circumstances of her life. Directed by Tina Landu, “Mother Play” showcases how Phyllis’ resentments trickle into her relationships with her two children, Carl (Jim Parsons) and Martha (Celia Keenan-Bolger). Told over the course of 40 years, the audience is introduced to the Herman family in their roach-infested basement apartment in 1964.
Fourteen-year-old Carl is easily lost in his books and is deeply curious about the world around him. Armed with a vibrant personality, he is the family’s North Star, a best friend to the more guarded 12-year-old Martha and Phyllis’ favorite child. The kids exist in their own bubble as Phyllis orbits around them.
In disbelief following her abusive husband’s abandonment of them, she seems content only when smoking cigarettes and guzzling gin. Groomed to be a homemaker, Phyllis is bewildered to be working outside the home, barely making ends meet, and she won’t stay quiet about it. As the production progresses toward the late sixties through the 1980s and into the present, the trio is evicted five times, moving together and apart in varied apartments and condos.
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