First of all, it feels like we couldve taken another crack at this title.
A play about a mother and her relationship to her children, and its just calledMother Play?
Theres minimalism, and then theres callingMoby-DickWhale Book.

Celia Keenan-Bolger as Martha and Jim Parsons as Carl in ‘Mother Play’.Joan Marcus
Like all of us, Phyllis is a product of her time and place.
One of them even starts hidden behind a recliner, which makes for a delightfully dramatic entrance.
That early apartment turns out to be infested, but Landau depicts the pests with creative shadow puppetry.

Jessica Lange as Phyllis in ‘Mother Play’.Joan Marcus
Parsons is the standout here.
The scene gets boring very quickly.