![Cast members Melody Craven (left) and Patricia Bradford appear in the local production of ‘night Mother which runs Aug. 2- 4 at the Richey Suncoast Theatre in downtown New Port Richey. [Courtesy of Richey Suncoast Theatre]](https://www.tampabay.com/resizer//SaMFoxXct2pigTR68y36_inQOkY=/426x0/smart/filters:format(webP)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tbt.s3.amazonaws.com/public/PWYG62GIHQI6TGNIIBWI6S7HAY.jpg "Cast members Melody Craven (left) and Patricia Bradford appear in the local production of ‘night Mother which runs Aug. 2- 4 at the Richey Suncoast Theatre in downtown New Port Richey. [Courtesy of Richey Suncoast Theatre]")
NEW PORT RICHEY — Richey Suncoast Theatre closes out the 2018-2019 black box season with a thought-provoking production of the Pulitzer Prize winning play, 'night Mother.
Life can be a world of hurt. That's the dilemma for Jessie Cates. She decides to end it all and calmly tells her mother (Thelma) her plans to commit suicide before morning. The story of how Jessie got to this painful point unfolds through the dialogue between the two characters.
'night Mother, written by American playwright, Marsha Norman, opened on Broadway in 1983 with Kathy Bates and Anne Pitoniakwon playing Jessie and Mama respectively. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1983 and earned a Tony nomination for Best Play the same year. A movie version was released in 1986 starring Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft.
This local production is directed by Emily Nettnin and features Patricia Bradford as Mama, and Melody Craven as Jessie.
Donations will be collected at all performances for the Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
If you go:
'night Mother, runs Aug. 2-4 at Richey Suncoast Theatre, 6237 Grand Blvd., New Port Richey. Shows are 8 p.m. Friday, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $25 cash, $27 credit card. Call box office (727) 842-6777 or website for online sales at richeysuncoasttheatre.com.
Contact Michele Miller at mmiller@tampabay.com or (727) 869-6251. Follow @MicheleMiller52.
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