Plays w/ Mother-and-Son Connection

[morganhenard]

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.

Please help! I know it's out there!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Oedipus the King

[CurtainPullDowner]

LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL
BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE

Two very different plays but have your needs.

[EricMontreal22]

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.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Tea and Sympathy

[CurtainPullDowner]

OH DAD POOR DAD, MAMA'S HUNG YOU IN THE CLOSET AND i'M FEELING SO SAD

It's sick but worth a read.

AND THINGS THAT GO BANG IN THE NIGHT

ditto

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Platinum

[EricMontreal22]

Phyllis, I did love the incest scene in Tea and Sympathy

Oh Dad, Poor Dad, and Bump in the Night are both great choices (McNally sure mellowed from his early plays...).

[wicked1492]

AFTER THE FALL

[Leadingplayer]

Come Blow Your Horn by Neil Simon

[Jungle Red]

Sam Shephard's BURIED CHILD is worth a look, but you may not be old enough to play the son.

[morganhenard]

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?

Thanks so much!

-Morgan

[EricMontreal22]

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...

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Not mother/son, but older woman/younger man. I thought maybe they'd want to make their chemistry sexy.

[EricMontreal22]

Ha, now I wish I could have seen Smith in this...

[Jon]

Ibsen's GHOSTS.
Miller's ALL MY SONS.

[After Eight]

First Love by Samuel Taylor
A Loss of Roses by William Inge

[Someone in a Tree2]

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.

[Playbilly]

Not mother/son, but if you look alike, Sweet Bird of Youth could make for an interesting interpretation.

[bobs3]

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.

[AngusN]

Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones is a fantastic play which centres around the relationship between Felix and his mother. It's a beautiful play.

[EricMontreal22]

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).

[3bluenight]

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

[GavestonPS]

By all means, read John Guare's BOSOMS AND NEGLECT.

One of the funniest plays I've ever seen. The mother/son relationship is the heart of the play.

[morganhenard]

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

4. "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams

5. "Buried Child" by Sam Shepard

xo,
-Morgan

[EricMontreal22]

Good choices (though I think Things That Go Bump, in particular, still is controversial with audiences).

Bosoms and Neglect is a great choice I completely forgot about.