Night Mother Lines

Debate Competition Memorization

First Line

We got any old towels?

MAMA. There you are!  What have you been doing in there?

 And a big piece of plastic like a rubber sheet or something. Garbage bags would do if there's enough. 

MAMA. Don't go making a big mess, Jessie. It's eight o'clock already.

Where’s Daddy’s Gun?

MAMA. In the attic.

Dawson better not have taken that pistol

MAMA. I don't like the idea of a gun, Jessie

Which shoebox, do you remember?

MAMA. Black.

The box was blacki?

MAMA. The shoes were black.

“That doesn’t help much, Mother”

MAMA. I'm not trying to help, sugar. (No answer.) We don't have anything anybody'd want, I mean, I don't even want what we got, Jessie. 

JESSIE. Neither do I.

MAMA. What are you doing?

JESSIE. I told you.

MAMA. And I told you, we don't get criminals out here. 

JESSIE. And I told you . . . The gun is for me. I'm going to kill myself, Mama.

I: ‘Night Mother is an award winning play by Marsha Norman that follows the story of Jessie and her Mother after Jessie calmly announces her plan to commit suicide that evening.

M: Jessie and her mother confront truths not only about each other, but also truths about the weight of life itself.

I: The play addresses themes of family and fear in an intense and intimate way leaving readers and viewers handing on every word.

M: It takes the audience on a journey of making choices about mortality, and what it really means to say goodbye.

MAMA. Very funny. Very funny.

JESSIE. I am.

MAMA. You're not going to kill yourself, Jessie. You're not even upset! People don't really kill themselves, Jessie. No, Mam, doesn't make sense, unless you're deranged and you're as normal as they come, Jessie, for the most part. We're all afraid to die. 

JESSIE. I'm not, Mama.

MAMA. What did 1 do? i’m

JESSIE. Nothing.

MAMA. You're mad at me, 

JESSIE. Not a bit. I am worried about you, but I'm going to do what I can before I go.

MAMA. Then what is it? Are you sick?

JESSIE. That was just the ragweed. I'm not sick

MAMA. Epilepsy is sick, Jessie. 

JESSIE. It won't kill me. (A pause.) If it would, I wouldn't have to.

MAMA. You don't have to.

JESSIE. No, I don't. That's what I like about it.

MAMA. Well I won't let you!

JESSIE. It's not up to you. 

MAMA. Jessie!

JESSIE. Mama . . . I read the paper. I don't like how things are. And they're not any better out there than they are in here. 

MAMA. If you're doing this because of the newspapers, I can sure fix that! 

JESSIE. No. (Then affectionately.) It's a funny idea, though. 

MAMA. (Interrupting.) You're acting like some little brat, Jessie. You're mad and everybody's boring and you don't have anything to do,  you're miserable and it's your own sweet fault.

JESSIE. And it's time I did something about it.

MAMA. Not something like killing yourself.

JESSIE. I can't do anything about my life, to change it, make it better, make me feel better about it. I'm going to say what happens to it. And it's going to stop. And I'm going to stop it. So. Let's just have a good time.

MAMA. All right. Ask me whatever you want. Here.

JESSIE. I want to know what Daddy said to you the night he died. You came storming out of his room and said I could wait it out with him if I wanted to, What did he say to you? 

MAMA. He didn't have anything to say to me, Jessie. That's why I left. He didn't say a thing. It was his last chance not to talk to me and he took full advantage of it. 

MAMA. I think your Daddy had fits too. 

JESSIE. You want to talk about fits, is that it? 

MAMA. Yes. I do. I want to say . .

JESSIE. Most of the time I wouldn't even know I'd had one, except I wake up with different clothes on feeling like I've been run over. Sometimes I feel my head start to turn around or hear myself scream. And sometimes, there is this dizzy stupid feeling a little before it, but if the TV's on, well, it's easy to miss.

MAMA. I can tell when you're about to have one. Your eyes get this big! But Jessie, you haven't…

JESSIE. (Taking charge of this. ) What do they look like? The seizures. 

MAMA. There's not much to tell. You just a heap, like a puppet and somebody cut the strings all at once, you know. You don't know what happens? How can you not know what happens?

JESSIE. I'm busy.

MAMA. That's not funny. 

JESSIE. I wasn't laughing

MAMA. But Jessie, and this is the reason I even brought this up! You haven't had a seizure for a solid year. A whole year, do you realize that? The fits are over! 

JESSIE. It's not the fits! You said it yourself, the medicine takes care of the fits. 

MAMA. (Interrupting.) Your Daddy gave you those fits, Jessie. He passed it down to you like your green eyes and your straight hair. It's not my fault! (Beginning to break down,) Maybe I fed you the wrong thing. Maybe you had a fever some time and I didn't know it soon enough. Maybe it's a punishment. 

JESSIE. It's just a sickness, not a curse. Epilepsy doesn't mean anything. It just is, 

MAMA. I'm not talking about the fits here, Jessie! I'm talking about this killing yourself. It has to be me that's the matter here. This is all my fault, Jessie, but I don't know what to do about it, now! 

JESSIE. (exasperated at having to say this again.) It doesn't have anything to do with you! 

MAMA. How can I let you go?

JESSIE. You can because you have to. 

MAMA. You are my child! 

JESSIE. I am what became of your child. That's what this is about. It's somebody I lost, all right, it's my own self, Who I never was, so there's no reason to stay, except to keep you company, and that's . . . not reason enough because I'm not . . . very good company. (A Pause.) Am I.

MAMA. No. And neither am I.   

JESSIE. Now, somebody's bound to ask you why I did it and you just say you don't know. We just sat around tonight like every other night of our lives and then I came over and kissed you and said, " 'Night, Mother," and you heard me close my bedroom door and the next thing you heard was the shot. And whatever reasons I had, well, you guess I just took them with me, 

MAMA. (Quietly.) It was something personal. 

JESSIE. Good. That's good, Mama. 

MAMA. That's what I'll say, then. 

JESSIE. It's time for me to go, Mama. 

MAMA. No, Jessie, you've got all night! 

JESSIE. (As Mama grabs her.) No, Mama.

MAMA. It's not even ten o'clock. 

MAMA. It's not even ten o'clock. 

MAMA. I can't. You can't go. You can't do this. You didn't say it would be so soon, Jessie. I'm scared. I love you. 

JESSIE. Don't try and stop me, Mama, you can't do it. 

MAMA. I can too! I'll stand in front of this hall and you can't get past me. You'll have to knock me down to get away from me, Jessie. I’m not about to let you…

JESSIE, (Almost a whisper. ) 'Night, Mother.