It begins with Jessie calmly telling her Mama that by morning she will be dead, as she plans to take her own life that very evening.
[2] The play takes place over the course of a single evening in the living room/kitchen of an isolated house shared by Jessie and her elderly mother Thelma.
This evening, Jessie has carefully organized the house and made other detailed preparations for the future while explaining the changes to Thelma, who does not immediately notice anything unusual.
Thelma speculates that Jessie's unhappy marriage, her divorce, her criminal son, the loss of her father, her epilepsy, or the pity and distaste other people feel toward her illness, are at the root of her depression; Jessie likewise dismisses these reasons, stating that her motives are purely her own and have nothing to do with other people, including Thelma.
By the end of the evening, Thelma concludes that she has never really known her daughter and realizes that their long conversation has altered the nature of their relationship, but Jessie, stating that it is now time for her to go, says "'night, Mother," before locking herself in her room.
The usual grayness and unsteady physical energy of this woman have given way to a new purpose that is expressed in productivity and detached humor.
Thelma "Mama" Cates: A widow, she is starting to feel her age and has easily allowed her depressed daughter to come and take care of all the details of her life.
[9] The first Chicago production opened in 1986 at the Wisdom Bridge Theatre, starring Sarajane Avidon and Elizabeth Moore.
[10] A Broadway revival opened at the Royale Theatre on November 14, 2004, and closed on January 9, 2005, after 65 performances and 26 previews, starring Brenda Blethyn and Edie Falco, and directed by Michael Mayer.
[13] Ben Brantley, in his The New York Times review of the 2004 revival, wrote: "...these two first-rate actresses are never quite at home in their roles.... Ms. Norman's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama ... is looking more artificial than it did two decades ago.
[11] Reviewing the 2004 revival, Elyse Sommers wrote in curtainup.com that Blethyn's performance "is superb" and that "Falco embodies a woman who has given up on life as anything remotely resembling fun and optimism."