Isabelle Huppert is sitting on a very long white couch when you take your seat for The Mother. The couch stretches the length of the stage. Lots of pill bottles are stashed underneath in half a dozen places. Are they all empty? Mother is reading a book, looks bored and occasionally nods off. Clearly there are going to be seismic issues on display in Florian Zeller’s play (translated by Christopher Hampton). A few seasons ago, his companion piece The Father was on Broadway starring Frank Langella. That memorable play dealt with Alzheimers. The focus here is depression.
Mother seems a bit cantankerous when her husband (Chris Noth) comes home from work. Her messages are not muddled: “You were a pathetic father. I’ve been meaning to tell you.” Her son is told that “cowardice is in the genes.” Her truth-telling moves even further down the dark path of meanness. “Sometimes I have dreams about murdering you. They’re my favorite dreams.”
This mother is a middle aged woman whose children have long since moved away and her husband works while she sits at home. She is certain he is having an affair. A four day seminar provokes further suspicion. The play’s structure is not linear and scenes often repeat with slight variations. Father comes home again to the same arguments and accusations. We become immersed and confused alongside the stormy places in her head, clouded by pills and paranoia. The road is unstable, hazy and uncomfortably embarrassing to witness.
What does a mother do when her children no longer need her and have moved on with their lives? The extremely long white couch on stage signifies the great chasm in the relationship between her and her husband. Mother is obviously depressed, unhappy and feeling alone. Her relationship with her son is awkwardly touchy. His girlfriend is described as “vulgar and ugly physically.” Scenes cross, collide, repeat and vary but Mother never seems to heal. The depression is all-consuming. It has become life’s purpose.
Ms. Huppert’s performance is big and quite fun to watch. You can presume some of the rabbit holes she will fall down into as she unravels. The plot evolution is not exactly surprising but the herky-jerky storytelling gives this character study an unusual spin. Sadly, many of us know what it’s like to listen to a mom’s late-in-life revelations. (An oft-repeated personal favorite: “if I had to do it all over again, I never would have had children.”) Ms. Huppert seemed to be exaggerated versions of those individuals who are doomed to drown in a sea of life’s regrets.
Trip Cullman directed The Mother so you cannot look away. The tension does not let up even when there is humor in the script. I found the unstable narrative of this play nicely matched with the unreliable mental condition of the protagonist. Nice supporting performances by Mr. Noth, Justice Smith (son) and Odessa Young (girl) add to the swirling disorientation of this interesting play.