Dearest Mother

A Great Show for Fans of John Berryman

I am a big fan of John Berryman's poetry and I knew a little about his life. This show added a lot to my appreciation of him. But none of his poetry is read during the show (which didn't bother me; that was not the show's purpose), but I wonder how someone unfamiliar with him would react to this show. Hopefully it would make them want to explore more.

A compelling attempt

This play was obviously done with a lot of respect and reverence for John Barryman, a local legend that people speak of woefully little. But then, narcissists who cannot overcome addictions don't make for very sympathetic characters. I know the premise was to illustrate the relationship through the letters, but having the characters on opposite sides of the stage, while the third took center and just relayed information made for very, VERY stagnant blocking pacing. I wish that it had been more like the last 15 minutes when the characters actually all interacted with one another. THAT'S where drama and conflict comes from. Not from information, but from interaction. I would like to see it again maybe with some workshopping.

A diamond in the rough

I love the more historic Fringe shows, and was excited to see Dearest Mother. The story is really interesting, since most of us long-term Minnesotans know of both John Berryman and Robert Bly (who also figures in the work). I would wish for better sound levels (Berryman's wife was very difficult to hear) and stronger insight into the "complicated and dramatic relationship" between Berryman and his mother. We learned about the multiyear period with little correspondence, but we (or at least, I) didn't see much conflict, and without that conflict, the work seemed a little flat.

Compelling.

I knew few details of the life of Berryman prior to seeing Mother Dearest. The play had a very interesting and effective minimalist approach to staging and set design. Using mostly dialog from a series of letters between Berryman and his Mother, the play chronicles the triumphant and tragic aspects of Berryman’s life. It left me wanting to visit the archives for more. I greatly enjoyed this play.

Sympathies for the wife

As a newcomer to any of John Berryman's legacy, and watching this show on Thurs at 10pm, I came away feeling saddened for Berryman's wife as a person who became wrapped up in the at-first mundane yet quickly spiraling conditions of his husband and mother-in-law. It was a bit of a challenge to keep up with the ongoing ups-and-downs between John and his mother as stories were read off of letters without much time for the imagination to map out each letter's story. The interactions between characters during this letter-reading phase was done well enough for me to feel like each character had some ability to move the dates and events forward. The plot becomes easier for me to keep up with once all three characters are sharing the same room, addressing each other face-to-face. Each character was performed with convincing enough quirks and steadiness to keep me engaged with the rhythm of the dialogue, even if I wasn't always retaining every detail. Overall, it's a worthwhile dramatization of an esteemed scholar corresponding with a maternal figure whose life is removed from the daily academic pressures that built a dark cloud over John Berryman that could not be felt by the women closest to him, yet impacted them nonetheless. View time: Thurs 10pm, 8/10 Reviewed by Tri, performer in Coyfish