Strand Theater Opens 11th Season With 'NIGHT, MOTHER

The Strand Theater Company proudly presents the opening production of its 11th Season, 'Night, Mother by Marsha Norman.

What would you do if someone you loved sat down with you one night and calmly told you that they were going to end their life before morning?

About the play: On a seemingly normal evening, we meet Thelma Cates (Mama), an aging mother and widow who lives with her daughter, Jessie. Jessie is the divorced mother of a hoodlum son, who - unsatisfied and depressed - struggles with life as an unemployed epileptic. On this night, Jessie comes into the room asking her mother about the whereabouts of her father's old revolver. When Jessie finds it in the attic, she confesses to her mother that she is going to kill herself. Tonight. *

'Night, Mother is a taut and fluid drama that addresses different emotions and special relations. By one of America's most talented playwrights, this play won the Dramatists Guild's prestigious Hull-Warriner Award, four Tony nominations, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize in 1983. **

'Night, Mother opens on September 28 and runs Fridays-Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm, through October 14. Tickets are $20 General Admission, $10 for students, seniors and artists. All performances take place at 5426 Harford Rd. 21201. Tickets are available at strand-theater.org.

About the Playwright

Marsha Norman is the winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize, Blackburn Prize, Hull-Warriner, and Drama Desk Awards for her play 'NIGHT, MOTHER. In l992 she won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for her book for the Broadway musical, THE SECRET GARDEN. She also wrote the book for the Broadway musical, The Color Purple; she received a Tony nomination for the original production, and a Tony Aware for the 2016 Revival. Her play the Master Butcher's Singing Club, premiered at the Guthrie Theatre in the fall of 2010. She won a Peabody Award for her writing on the HBO television series, IN TREATMENT, starring Gabriel Byrne and Dianne Wiest. Her most recent work is the adaptation of THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN: A NOVEL SYMPHONY FOR ACTORS AND ORCHESTRA, with music conducted and written by Jason Robert Brown. The CD has been released by TRW and PS Classics.

The Strand Theater Company champions challenging and provocative theater that especially celebrates women's diverse voices and perspectives while bringing together the creative talents of both women and men as artists, technicians, and administrators. We invite patrons to experience some of the region's best contemporary and reinterpreted works for the stage in our intimate North-East Baltimore theater.

Since launching in 2007, the Strand has presented over 50 full-length plays, including 15 World Premieres; offered 75% of the artistic positions on its productions-as playwrights, directors, designers, stage managers, and actors-to women; provided affordable theater space to many organizations and independent artists; and played an integral role in the revitalization of the Station North Arts & Entertainment District.

In August 2011, the Strand was honored as one of Baltimore magazine's "Top 5 Baltimore Theaters," along with CENTERSTAGE, Everyman, the Hippodrome, and Single Carrot. To learn more about the Strand Theater Company, visit www.strand-theater.org.

In the summer of 2016, the Strand has completed a purchase of its permanent performance facility in Baltimore's Historic Hamilton-Lauraville neighborhood, just in time for the opening of the theater's ninth season.

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