Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Vol. CLIV, Issue 6
Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

‘night, Mother

To paraphrase Bob Dylan: The times are a-changing, at least in terms of Walla Walla’s theater repertoire. Previously, if you wanted to catch a bit of the drama bug in this town, the options were either popping into one of the college shows or stopping by for a performance at the Little Theatre. Good options, both, but considerably limited, nonetheless. This October, however, director Gregg Gilmore and the Westmain Stage are shaking up the arts scene in Walla Walla with their debut production of ‘night, Mother by Marsha Norman.

For a premiere show, the Westmain Stage could have chosen a lot worse. ‘night, Mother was originally staged in 1983 at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge. The show’s success took it to Broadway, where it received a Tony award for Best Play, and then went on to win the Pulitzer prize for drama.

It is a haunting, riveting play about a mother and daughter struggling with the age-old question: Is life really worth living? Jessie Cates has decided that it isn’t, and one evening she calmly announces to her elderly mother, Thelma, that she intends to kill herself before the night is out. What follows is an alarming, provocative dialogue between these two women, during which Jessie serenely lays out her detailed plan for her own passing and Thelma desperately attempts to gain some semblance of understanding of the situation while simultaneously trying to stop her.

The play takes place in real time so that the audience acts like a fly on the wall witnessing the drama unfolding right before them but is powerless to interfere. As their conversation unfurls, secrets of the past and anguishes of the present permeate the dialogue, opening up deft insights regarding the mindset of suicide.

The Westmain Stage has done astounding work with such difficult and troubling material. The theater itself is small and intimate: precisely the type of space for which this show was intended. With the exception of a short platform for the stage and a few rows of seats for the audience, it practically seems as if you have simply entered Thelma and Jessie’s domain the moment you walk through the door. The set excellently creates a sense of the women’s remote, humble home, right down to the television, which quietly plays religious broadcasting throughout the show.

It is the performances, however, which seal the success of this production. Phyllis Bonds and Jennifer Elkington are alarmingly realistic as Thelma and Jessie, creating rich, nuanced characters from Norman’s complicated script. Elkington is composed and restrained as a woman who has firmly decided to take her own life, and Bonds does not miss a single emotional beat the entire show. Her portrayal of Thelma is simply extraordinary. She is simple and cheery one moment, with an effortless transformation into a dismayed and helpless old woman the next.

Gilmore has taken an extremely demanding play and turned it into a moving, thought-provoking marvel. The pacing of the show is flawless, leading the characters and their audience forward to an inevitable, climactic ending. It is extremely exciting to see such incredible new theater happening in Walla Walla. Here’s hoping such a promising beginning will lead to a lengthy future for the Westmain Stage.

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