Good theater, no, make that the best theater, can tap your emotions like no other. And Conversations with Mother does just that. This modest two character one act by Matthew Lombardo sneaks up on you over its 85 minute running time. The premise alone – an Italian mother and her gay son conversing – has stereotype written all over it. But by play’s end you will have laughed hard, cried uncontrollably and grown wiser in the process.
Much of the credit goes to the two performances. And that too was something of a surprise. Caroline Aaron playing Maria Collavechio and Matt Doyle as Bobby Collavechio might seem like questionable casting considering that neither has any Italian in their names. And some might even accuse them of cultural appropriation. But both performances are immaculate.
On a mostly bare stage with minimal props, they manage to evoke a world that’s specific in time and place (spanning nearly 60 years) and universal in their portrayal of the family dynamic – the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. No mean feat that is! As directed and conceived, there is little action and a lot of talk. Much of the time, the actors address each other standing on either side of the stage facing front. And yet, it doesn’t take long before we know these people. They could easily be us or someone in our orbit. And they manage it with very little affectation.
When we first meet them, Bobby who’s 8 years old, repeatedly begs to come home from summer camp. The answer is a chilly “N!O!” But when he tells his mother one of the counselors invited him to sleep over in his van, she responds “Get packed! You’re coming home!”
He is the youngest of her sons and their relationship is complicated but loving. Bobby is insecure and self sabotaging as he goes through life unsure of himself, claiming to be a writer. Maria is a strong-willed realist. She’s got common sense smarts and is described as co-dependent in Bobby’s life. Happily, this is one Roman Catholic Italian American mother character who accepts her son’s gay existence. And as the story progresses, jumping ahead through the years amid so many ups and downs, their bond deepens and we grow to love them as well.
Directed by Noah Himmelstein with deceptive simplicity, it’s all richly dramatic but also loaded with laughter as the two characters spar with each other in that affectionate way mothers and sons tend to do. The individual scenes are titled with motherly expressions such as “Tell Me The Truth and I Won’t Get Mad” and “Why Can’t You Ever Meet a Nice Boy.” At one point, Maria fears that Bobby has “the AIDS” as she puts it. And when Bobby finally gets a job at The Meat Hook, a gay bar, Maria asks if it’s a delicatessen.
Credit Lombardo and Himmelstein for staging one of the funniest moments ever heard in a straight play…and it’s all the more impressive capping off a tearjerker of a climax that has audience members audibly weeping.
It’s no secret that Lombardo’s play is semi-autobiographical. He was clearly blessed with a mother who provided him with so much material to write about. But it takes a lot of talent to pull off a two hander that could so easily turn sappily sentimental. The combined talents (I’m including the entire technical team and special mention to Wig/Hair Designer Tom Watson) make Conversations With Mother a must see. Loaded with life lessons, it’s really all about basic human stuff…and it’s scintillating.
Conversations with Mother opened February 23, 2025, at Theatre 555 and runs through May 11. Tickets and information: conversationsplay.com
