Our Mothers's Brief Affair

Our Mothers Brief Affair is playing at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre located at 261 West 47th Street. It runs two hours with one intermission. The play closes on March 6, 2016.

Richard Greenburg is the playwright. He won a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award for Take Me Out (2003). Richard was nominated for a Tony Award in 2013 for Assembled Parties. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for Take Me Out (2003) and Three Days of Rain (1998).

Lynne Meadow is the director. She won a Drama Desk Award in 2003 for Take Me Out. Lynne was nominated for a Tony Award for The Assembled Parties (2013).

Linda Levin is known for the CBS show Alice. She was inducted to the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2010. Linda won a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Broadway Bound (1987). She was nominated for five Tony Awards for The Lyons (2012), Collected Stories (2010), The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife (2001), The Diary of Anne Frank (1998) and Last of the Last Hot Lovers (1970).

The play takes place in New York City and Long Island, the time 2003, 1973 and 2006.

Seth (Greg Keller) describes his mother Ann (Linda Lavin) by giving short sentences or words. She replies to them by saying or doing what he said. Ann tells her son she had a brief affair but won’t give him any details. Seth calls his sister Abby (Kate Arrington) in California and tells her about the so called affair. When Abby arrives, Ann starts giving them more information, about the gentlemen Abe (John Procaccino) who she had the affair with. Ann finds out later his real name was David Greenglass, the brother of Ethel Rosenberg. Act One ends with Seth and Abby telling the audience about Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.

In Act Two we learn more about the affair (?) and what happens to Ann.

The first act is so slow; act two was much better and interesting.

You can fall asleep during act one and stay awake for act two. There were times when I could not hear the actors. I saw the show the first day the play was in front of an audience. It may have gotten better when it officially opened.

This is a play I would pass on seeing.

Review by Rozanna Radakovich

Photos by Annazor.

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