Subtext in 'night, Mother

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > CONTENT > SUBTEXT > 'NIGHT, MOTHER

'If I read one more article about how we all have to steer ourselves away from narrative and realism because TV and film do that, and our job is to 'push the envelope,' I'm just going to throw up. This elitism is driving audiences away . . ..'

-- Theresa Rebeck

In the opening lines of Marsha Norman's play, tremendous subtext lurks just beneath the surface of the dialogue as Mama's 40-ish daughter, Jessie, asks a seemingly innocuous question. But under that question is 40 years of emotional baggage about to come home . . .

Jessie's first line is a seemingly innocuous question to her mother: Does she have any old towels she doesn't want? It's an odd request. But we have to spend 8 more pages with her before we understand how ominous it really is. And that's because Jessie's Subtext is kept beneath the surface of the dialogue.

This is what would happen if Jessie spoke all of her Subtext . . .

				JESSIE
			(As Marsha Norman would never 
		     write dialogue)
	Do we have any old towels, plastic sheeting or foam 
	rubber padding? I'm going to commit suicide in the 
	bedroom tonight with Daddy's pistol as soon as I get 
	everything done for you and I need the towels so all the 
	blood won't make a mess on your floor.

Well, first of all . . .

Loading Jessie's subtext into her spoken dialogue removes any mystery about why she's making her odd request about old towels.
It undercuts the playwright's ability to build conflict between the characters.
It blows the first 8 pages of the script. That's 8 pages gone of the minimum of 90 needed for a full-length play.

Technically, playwriting is about using up time and time is pages. Keeping Subtext below the surface of the dialogue forces you to take time telling your story. And it makes it interesting for your audience.

And it helps you build tension in another way by generating . . .

Dramatic Irony

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