Mother of the Maid is by Jane Anderson, and was originally produced on Broadway starring Glenn Close. And while we can't boast that we have Glenn Close in our production, we are presenting the Canadian premiere of the play. And the title role will be played by Pacific Theatre favourite, Anita Wittenberg (Holy Mo, Agnes of God, Mourning Dove).
Jane Anderson was also coincidentally the screenwriter for The Wife, which garnered Close an Oscar nomination. She was interviewed for Vanity Fair last year and we wanted to whet your appetite for Mother of the Maid by sharing an extract with you here.
Pay close attention to the women Jane Anderson writes: beneath their modesty and reticence wait layers of steel, ready to be unsheathed.
In Mother of the
Maid, Glenn Close plays Joan of Arc’s pious mom; in The Wife, she
portrays a Nobel Prize winner’s staunch spouse. Both protagonists—ordinary
women tethered to extraordinary beings—question the faith and husbands that
moor them and emerge, as Anderson’s scripts unravel, their own autonomous
beings. Anderson uniquely positions her narratives from the perspective of
those who’d usually be considered secondary characters, and her women
astound—even when sharing scenes with fiery crusaders and celebrated literati.
“These women, for me, are
more exciting to write and explore than the heroic leads who have been written
and explored to death,” Anderson said. “I find the women or mother roles to be
affected by the hero’s actions on such a profound level, an even deeper human
level than what the heroes experience.”
These under-explored
characters compel Anderson to write—as do intimate attachments to the source
material.
“Mother of the Maid is a
deeply personal play for me,” she said. “I had a Joan of Arc obsession when I
was a young gay girl trying to come out to my mom. I think women of my ilk had
that with Joan blasting apart traditional male/female roles. Then when I became
a mother, I realized how it must’ve been to raise a child like me. Now that I
am older, I have a deeper understanding of what it is to raise an unusual
child, and how painful and exciting it is.”
Anderson’s dual
perspectives allow her dialogue to crackle as ideas clash and characters’
long-buried scars volcanically surface. Her early years as a performer also
helped her craft “actable scenes,” which clearly helped build a relationship
with Close.
“I’m always looking for
characters that are challenging, that call for an exploration into new
psychological and emotional territory,” Close said. “Both Joan Castleman,
in The Wife, and Isabelle Arc, in Mother of the Maid, enticed
me with that kind of challenge. They demand craft, truth, and empathy and are
woven into stories that are provocative and emotionally impactful. Her writing
and her generous, passionate collaboration makes me a better actress.”
Mother of the Maid runs at Pacific Theatre
September 13 - October 5
