Altarena Playhouse - The Golden Bay Times

’night, Mother is a play by Marsha Norman, written in the style of an intimate psychological drama. Set over the course of a single evening inside a quiet rural home, the story follows Jessie, a woman worn down by chronic struggles, and her mother Thelma, who relies on routines to keep her world steady. When Jessie calmly announces a devastating plan for the night ahead, their conversation shifts into an emotional tug of war as Thelma searches for answers and tries to pull her daughter back toward hope. Ordinary tasks like preparing food or tidying the house become charged with meaning, revealing long buried tensions, missed chances, and the complicated tenderness between a mother and her adult child. The dialogue is sharp, human, and unsettling in its honesty, creating a sense of closeness that feels both comforting and deeply painful. Without revealing any key turns, the play builds a compelling sense of urgency and emotional intensity that invites the audience to lean in and feel every pause, every confession, and every subtle shift between two people who know each other better than anyone else, yet still struggle to truly connect.

In Fallen Angels two long-time friends and married women, Julia and Jane, find themselves rattled when they learn that a former French lover they once shared is arriving in London. Their husbands are out of town on a golf trip giving the women the freedom to revisit old longings and repressed desires. As the afternoon drifts on, polite conversation gradually gives way to cocktails, champagne, and mounting tension. What starts as wistful nostalgia morphs into jealousy and confusion as the women confront not only their feelings for the man but also the quiet dissatisfaction in their marriages. Meanwhile a clever and outspoken maid named Saunders watches and comments from the sidelines, adding both levity and sharp insight. The setting is a chic 1920s London flat filled with art-deco elegance, which frames the growing chaos in genteel surroundings. With biting wit and simmering emotion, the play captures the crash between societal propriety and personal yearning while delivering laughter, longing, and a sense of what might happen when long-buried passions resurface.