Our Mother's Brief Affair

by Richard Greenberg

Seth and Abby fly into New York to care for their ailing mother, Anna. Determined that her children should remember her as more than an unremarkable housewife, Anna reveals that she once had an affair. Initially shocked, Seth and Abby begin to question how much of the story can be blamed on Anna's senile mind, and how much is true.

Genres: Plays

61 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2017

About the author

Richard Greenberg was an American playwright and television writer known for his subversively humorous depictions of middle-class American life. He had more than 25 plays premiere on Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway in New York City and eight at the South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa, California, including The Violet Hour, Everett Beekin, and Hurrah at Last. Greenberg is perhaps best known for his 2002 play Take Me Out.

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

Greenberg has written some of the best American plays of the past half century ('Take Me Out', 'Three Days of Rain'), and when he's firing on all cylinders, he can't be beat. Unfortunately, I have found his last couple of plays to be major duds, including this one, which starts out so promisingly - clever and funny, then takes a sharp left turn at the end of the first act, from which it never really recovers.

(WARNING: MAJOR SPOILER ENSUING!) That turn is the revelation that the mother's titular affair MIGHT have been with the younger brother of Ethel Rosenberg, and much of the second act is taken up with a recapitulation of that entire tragedy - which stops the action (and comedy!) cold and becomes a turgid history lesson. The play then becomes a somewhat morbid examination of Jewish guilt, and while that may elevate the THEMES of the play, it does nothing for one's enjoyment of it.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text has some intriguing dialogue and some clever laugh-out-loud lines, but the structure is confusing as to why it is presented in this format in the first place.

The big "reveal" might be more effective had it not needed to be explained.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this piece, as I do all of Greenberg's work, but I had a hard time with the style in which it was written. I loved the sly wit in his characters, but this one struck me a sad over all, and left me wondering did she or didn't she?

[Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had greater expectations of this play based on the descriptions I'd read of it.

I love the concept beyond the story- ailing, ancient mother, her two children, a failing memory, layers of Jewish guilt. Really, all perfect ingredients to sink your teeth into. Ultimately though, I had some trouble following Greenberg's writing style, and the story felt oddly clunky in many places. It read like the author was assuming the audience knew more about the characters and their lives than we actually did.