PIPPIN's Tovah Feldshuh Reacts to MOTHERS AND SONS

PIPPIN's Tovah Feldshuh attended Mothers and Sons on Broadway last week and wrote about her experience in a column for The Huffington Post.

MOTHERS AND SONS is a new play by Terrence McNally that explores our evolving understanding of family in today's world. It follows a woman (Tyne Daly) who pays an unexpected visit to the New York apartment of her late son's ex-partner (Frederick Weller), who is now married to another man (Bobby Steggert) and has a young son. Challenged to face how society has changed around her, generations collide as she revisits the past and discovers a new connection she never expected.

Feldshuh begins by writing: "One of the things I love most about the theater is the opportunity it presents writers to react to a sea of change in our culture; and few topics have captured our nation's attention of late as much as the inherent need for equality. It is not surprising, then, that one writer in particular would once again tackle this topic head-on without blinking: Terrence McNally."

Feldshuh describes Tyne Daly's character in the play as a "complicated woman" and writes that "Mr. McNally has given Ms. Daly, and all future actresses who will tackle this role, the gift of a flesh and blood human who happens to also be a character in a play."

She continued: "As a mother, the humanness comes to define this character, and her story, brings up all sorts of complex questions for me. How would I react in the same position? Are the mother's conflicting emotions towards her gay son relatable?...It is not hard for me to imagine Katharine as one of the parents of a friend from my childhood, dealing with a reality that was never spoken about at cookouts or graduation parties. The audience's ability to relate to Katharine -- whether we agree with her or not -- is the central challenge of the play, and ultimately its most profound achievement."

Feldshuh has also appeared on Broadway in Irena's Vow, Golda's Balcony - for which she won a 2003 Tony Award - Lend Me a Tenor, Sarava, Yentl, Rodgers & Hart, Dreyfus in Rehearsal and Cyrano.

Read her full article in The Huffington Post HERE.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride