A
1983 play by
Marsha Norman about a
daughter,
Jessie, and her
mother. The
tragedy takes place in
Aristotelian unities of time and place. At the beginning, Jessie tells her mother she's going to commmit
suicide. At the end, we
hear a
gunshot.
Winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The original production at the ART starred Kathy Bates as Jessie. The 1986 movie version starred Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft as daughter and mother, respectively.
A truly great play; as tragedy should, it opens up large issues about existence, personal usefulness, and familial bonds.