Approximating Mother

by Kathleen Tolan

Fran and Molly are best friends; Molly is already a mother and is expecting again, but Fran is approaching forty and has yet to find a potential father, let alone husband, amid a comic slew of failed suitors and blind dates, each of whom we hear about in hysterically funny and embarrassing detail during Fran and Molly's frequent days out together. When Molly delivers, Fran is so moved and slightly envious that she sets out to explore the possibilities of single motherhood, eventually winding up with a shady lawyer who will arrange for Fran to adopt an unwanted baby if she'll cover the mother's medical costs. Meanwhile, the mother, an Indiana teenager named Jen, is debating her decision to give up the baby. When the baby is born, Fran makes the mistake of showing up at the hospital where she accidentally runs into Jen and begins to realize that she's just taken part in an illegal adoption. After she's returned to the city with the baby, Fran has dreams about the baby's natural mother that haunt her, along with the doubts about the impact of what she's done, even as baby Tara sustains her.

Genres: Plays

72 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 1992

About the author

Kathleen Tolan worked for years as an actor. Her plays include A Weekend Near Madison, Kate's Diary, Approximating Mother, A Girl's Life and The Wax. They have been produced in regional theatres (including Trinity Repertory Theatre and the Actors Theatre of Louisville), in New York (including Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theatre and the Women's Project) and in Europe. She has received various commissions and awards. Her translation of Marivaux's False Servant was recently produced by the Classic Stage Company. She is the recipient of the 2005 McKnight National Residency and Commission. She is a member of the Writers Guild, the Dramatists Guild and PEN. She teaches playwriting at SUNY Purchase. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.