[NEohioPAL] FW: 'Night Mother -Powerful, Emotional, Engrossing?

Thu Oct 20 16:13:07 PDT 2011

Dear Subscribers -

I was very hesitant about posting my reaction to this controversy
concerning the recent review of 'Night Mother. Although the critique was
very flattering, plagiarism needs to be addressed.  

In all honesty, although 'Night Mother is very hard to watch because of
its subject matter, this rarely produced play is a really good show. The
audience reaction, as well as the emails I have received (see one
below), have been very gratifying, and Joy Borland and Bernadette
Clemens are amazing.  This weekend we close, so if you have a chance,
come see it for yourself. You will not be disappointed.  The running
time is 117 minutes at $10 a pop, no intermission. You will definitely
get a bang for your buck! And if you happen to know me personally, and
see the show, you might understand why I chose this very difficult and
demanding script.

As odd as this may seem, I appreciated the fact that this individual
took some time to post his review, but of course, I do not condone his
action.  I have been a College Professor for 26 years, and plagiarism is
an automatic expulsion from any college or university. So thank you Mr.
Falkofsky for keeping your eye on the ball.  

Thanks for your time.  Stay well.

Brian Z 

Hi Brian,

 I have been so busy with midterms this week that I haven't had a chance
to congratulate you on the outstanding production of 'Night, Mother.
Kevin and I saw the play on opening night, and as usual the production
was excellent.  Bernadette Clemens and Joy Borland were both wonderful.
Even though I knew what was coming, I was on the edge of my seat. Kudos
for an outstanding production.

Best,

Beverly 

Beverly A. Thornton

Associate Professor of English

Cuyahoga Community College

Eastern Campus

4250 Richmond Rd.

Highland Hills, Ohio 44122

From: neohiopal-bounces at lists.neohiopal.org
[mailto:neohiopal-bounces at lists.neohiopal.org] On Behalf Of Jason
Falkofsky
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 1:42 PM
To: John Glover
Cc: neohiopal at lists.neohiopal.org; roger at knowyourships.com
Subject: Re: [NEohioPAL]'Night Mother -Powerful, Emotional, Engrossing?

John,

It seems there is something you neglected to include in "your" review of
this play......the name of its author.

I find it difficult to believe that you would, once again, submit a
plagiarized review to NEOPAL and claim it as your own.

Now I don't do this with every review that gets posted to this list, but
considering your track record and the discovery I made with one of
"your" previous reviews I couldn't help to do a little research into
this one. Much to my dismay I immediately came across this review
written by Roger LeLievre for AnnArbor.com If you don't recall what was
written in his review (and for anyone else who may want to check this
out) here is the link 
http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/night-mother-review/

As a wrote to you personally after "your" Jospeh...Dreamcoat review, I
welcome and encourage people (that includes you) to share their reviews
and opinions on local performances provided that those opinions are
their own. NEOPAL seems to be an appropriate forum for such an activity.
However, this list, the Cleveland theater community and, especially, all
those involved with the Tri-C production of 'Night Mother deserve more
respect.

Sorry to make this public.

Oh...and I took the liberty of including Mr. LeLievre on this reply.

Jason Falkofsky
Director of Choral & Liturgical Music
216-651-2199 (office)
jfalkofsky at ignatius.edu

2011/10/19 John Glover <media-publish at hotmail.com>

Bring plenty of tissues: 'Night Mother is that kind of play.

This powerful one-act, two-character drama, which opened Friday night at
Tri-C's Eastern Campus Theatre Department, focuses on depressed,
thirty-something Jessie (Bernadette Clemens), who matter-of-factly
announces to her mother (Joy Borland) that she plans to commit suicide
that very night. As the 80-minute show begins, Jessie asks her mother
for her late father's revolver as she takes care of household chores so
mom can have an easier time of it after the trigger is pulled (such
consideration!). As the story unfolds, Jessie reveals the reasons behind
her horrific decision while her mother tries desperately to get Jessie
to change her mind. Clearly, Jessie is as determined to leave this world
as her mother is to have her stay.

This is a difficult show to watch, but the two actresses deliver such
knockout performances it's hard to take your eyes off them. 

At first, her mother doesn't take Jessie seriously ("Let's rearrange the
furniture," she suggests, as if that would help), but as she slowly
realizes her daughter isn't joking, she becomes increasingly panicked
("You might as well kill me. It's the same thing. ... How can I live
here without you?"). Every emotion is so etched upon Borland's face it
becomes heart-rending to watch. Similarly, Clemens projects a
world-weary resignation. Divorced, stuck in a deadly dull life and
awaiting her next epileptic seizure, she sees only more of the same in
her future and wants no part of it. Ms. Clemens is wonderful. The two
are amazingly believable as mother and daughter, and their chemistry is
evident.

Expertly directed by Brian Zoldessy, Marsha Norman's 1983 drama, which
won a Pulitzer Prize, involves the kind of conversation few of us will
ever have, and offers the opportunity for the audience to reflect on
their own lives and relationships. This is serious stuff, full of pain
and honesty. I was on the edge of my seat, and angry at Jessie for not
considering the devastation her final act would cause her mother. Yes,
Jessie has future shopping lists made, and tells her mother exactly who
to call and what to say after the trigger has been pulled, but she
obviously has given no co nsideration to her mother's emotional
reaction. Suicide has been called the ultimate act of selfishness and
nowhere is that more apparent than in 'Night, Mother.

Grim material to be sure, and a searing look inside the soul, but what
terrific performances by the two actresses involved, and another
wonderfully directed production by Brian Zoldessy. 

Do not miss this show!

______________________________________

NEohioPAL is SELF-SERVE. If you need to unsubscribe, change from digest
to one-at-a-time delivery or vice-versa, go on hiatus while out of town,
switch from mime to plain text or vice-versa, etc. check out the FAQS at
http://www.fredsternfeld.com.
______________________________________

Please consider a voluntary contribution to support Neohiopal - 
http://www.fredsternfeld.com/faqs.htm#support
______________________________________

Disclaimer: The facts and/or opinions expressed in this message are
solely those of the person in the 'from' or 'reply-to' header. The fact
that this message is posted should in no way be taken as an endorsement
by the administrator of this list. Subscribers should perform due
diligence for all goods, services and activities promoted on NEohioPAL.
________________________________________

NEohioPAL mailing list
NEohioPAL at lists.neohiopal.org
http://lists.neohiopal.org/listinfo.cgi/neohiopal-neohiopal.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20111020/beedb74f/attachment-0003.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed...
Name: ATT1877867.txt
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20111020/beedb74f/attachment-0003.txt>