“That bed. King-sized, at least. With space for visitors, and belongings and much much more. We used to lay towels on it and have Chinese food. We used to play Scrabble… I know you love me. That you are doing your best.”
Late at night, while his baby daughter sleeps, a son makes notes on his mother’s daily life and scenes from their complicated relationship. He is shaping a play, and a perspective. Two blocks away, his mother naps, and smokes, and reads, and drinks coffee. She is shaping her existence within encroaching confines. This New York story asks how we come to know one another as parents and as children. How do we care for those we love, and what does it take to live with – and without – them?
Reviews of Notes on My Mother’s Decline:
“Intimate but distant by design, Andy Bragen’s play takes us on a journey many are likely to face with an aging parent.”
–The New York Times
“Bragen’s play is possessed of a stealth emotional power that is deeply felt… don’t be surprised if you hear the lines reverberating in your head for days afterward. Seeing Caroline Lagerfelt onstage again feels like catching up with an old friend. Ari Fliakos performs with unfailing concentration and commitment.”
–Lighting & Sound America
“Notes has a brave and graceful moral. This play has a reverence for life. You should go see it.”
–Hi! Drama
“With a certain and subdued beauty, Notes on My Mother’s Decline softens the blow that expectations, memory and loss deal to a contemporary mother/son relationship.”
–BroadwayWorld
Click to read the TDF Interview with playwright Andy Bragen
Photos by Julieta Cervantes
WORLD PREMIERE
OCT 6 – 27, 2019
Written by:
Andy Bragen
Directed by:
Knud Adams
Featuring:
Ari Fliakos
Caroline Lagerfelt
Set Design:
Marsha Ginsberg
Costume Design:
Sophia Choi
Lighting Design:
Oona Curley
Sound Design:
Peter Mills Weiss
Projection Design:
Knud Adams
Production Stage Manager:
Molly Shea
Production Manager:
Sarah George
Next Door at New York Theatre Workshop
Fourth Street Theatre
79 East 4th St.
New York, NY 10003
A co-production with Andy Bragen Theatre Projects