MOTHER KNOWS BEST—
UNTIL SHE DOESN’T

A devastating, clear-eyed revival that refuses
comfort and lingers long after the lights go down

I first watched ‘night, Mother, the Pulitzer-prize winning drama by Marsha Norman, when I was in my early teens. I remember being thoroughly absorbed, if slightly shocked, by its matter-of-fact discussion of suicide. Beyond that, not much. But as much as my self-important teenage self would have bridled at the suggestion, some plays simply cannot be truly appreciated until one has accumulated some life, along with some life lessons on the way (see also Sondheim’s Follies), and a few decades later, seated in Redtwist’s tiny theatre, this masterful new production of the play just about leveled me.

Ending Redtwist’s season of Defiant Femmes, scenic designer Bobbie Buie offers us an exquisite set for ‘night, Mother, meticulously detailing the interior of a ranch house. We will learn that the abode is in the country and located at the end of a long dusty road, but it doesn’t take that knowledge to glean the isolation of the dwelling. The walls are covered with mounted fish and fishing paraphernalia is everywhere. Everything is worn and dusty; this is not a house that receives visitors too often.

Seated on the couch is an elderly woman, Thelma (Kathy Ruhl), knitting with an eye on the television. Putting away her wool, she shuffles over to the neatest corner of the room, a section of shelves with an array of jars containing candy; our Thelma has a sweet tooth. Realizing that she’s low on one of her favorites, she calls out to daughter Jessie (Anne Sheridan Smith) to add it to the list.

Entering the room a moment later, Jessie is a woman on a mission. In between searching for a father’s old gun—for protection, she claims—she’s rattling off instructions for her mother and making lists for her. Confused by all the activity, Thelma keeps pushing for answers as to what is going on. Once Jessie has found the gun and cleaned it, she reveals her true purpose.

The gun is not for protection. It is for her own use. Before the night is over, she will kill herself.

With that statement, delivered flatly, without any dramatic inflection or set up, ‘night, Mother plunges us into an extraordinarily uncomfortable evening at the theatre. Over the next hour or so, Thelma tries to convince Jessie to abandon her plans. She blames her deceased husband, his genetics—accusing him of passing his epilepsy down to his daughter, thus limiting her life; she turns on Jessie, her husband who abandoned her, her drug-addicted child; ultimately, she turns on herself: had she been a better mother, had she loved her daughter’s father, had she been better company, her daughter, who is doing so well on her new medication, would not be determined to kill herself.

‘night, Mother touches on a whole host of issues: abandonment, isolation, mental health, and crippling depression. There’s a cruel irony in the fact that it is the success of Jessie’s new medication that initiates these events. It has given her a year of clarity. A year in which she has had time to evaluate her life and decide that she no longer wants to continue. But quite like Birds of North America—one of the best productions of the year—‘night, Mother is fundamentally about a parent and a child who simply cannot understand or relate to one other, no matter how hard they try.

Director Dusty Brown keeps things tightly controlled directing the actors to withhold more than they reveal with the result that when the honesty breaks through, it’s genuinely upsetting. Sheridan Smith, who was splendid as the vain Irina Arkadina in Red Theater’s The Seagull earlier this year, gives a wonderful, vanity-free performance as Jessie; her prickly take stubbornly resists audience sympathies, and when her inner monologue occasionally breaks through, it devastates.

As Thelma, Kathy Ruhl is a force of nature. Her small eyes coolly observing and taking notes. Her physical frailty and quavering voice belie the strength of her personality. Thelma is used to being in charge and she has finally met her match. As her frustration builds, her occasional lapses of control are startling, and when she finally breaks down, it is absolutely shattering.

Some might find ‘night, Mother frustrating. At no point is there any doubt whatsoever that Jessie will kill herself. The play willfully denies us catharsis at almost every turn up to and including the ending. But as I watched Thelma beat at her daughter’s door, begging her to spare her own life—audience members on either side of me sobbing—I knew what my teenage self could never have known; that for some people, control over whether they live or die is the only control they have.

Thelma Cates, at her relatively advanced age, still has a zeal for life, lassitude notwithstanding. Despite everything said, she cannot fathom why her daughter wants to leave. And it doesn’t matter that she doesn’t know why.

It’s not about her.

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photos by Tom McGrath

‘night, Mother
Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago
Thurs-Sat at 7:30; Sun at 3:30
understudy performances May 3 (3:30) & May 14 (7:30)
90 minutes, no intermission
ends on May 24, 2026
for tickets ($10–$60; PWYC Fridays), visit Redtwist Theatre

for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago

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