A Study Guide for Terrence McNally's "Andre's Mother"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Terrence McNally's "Andre's Mother", excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: May 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781410393951

Book preview

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Andre's Mother

Terrence Mcnally

1988

Introduction

Andre's Mother is a brief one-act play by Ter- rence McNally that explores the themes of love, loss, family, and acceptance within the context of the homosexual community. The Manhattan Theater Club first performed the play on May 18, 1988, as part of an off-Broadway event called Urban Blight.

Written during the height of the AIDS epidemic, the story begins after Andre's death. Cal, Andre's boyfriend, holds an informal memorial where he attempts to connect with Andre's mother. However, she had no idea that her son was gay, dating Cal, or dying of AIDS. Her reaction symbolizes the rejection that many in the gay community have faced from their own families. The play was adapted for television in 1990, earning McNally an Emmy Award. The original play can be found in the collections Terrence McNally: 15 Short Plays (1994) and Andre's Mother and Other Short Plays (1995).

Author Biography

McNally was born on November 3, 1939, in St. Petersburg, Florida, but he grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. In an interview with Toby Silverman Zinman, McNally commented that he developed a love for the theater as a child when his parents took him to New York to see Annie

Get Your Gun and The King and I and by listening to opera on the radio.

McNally attended Columbia University and graduated with a degree in English and as a member of the honors society Phi Beta Kappa in 1960. After receiving an Evan's Traveling Scholarship, McNally traveled to Mexico, where he wrote a play. After sending the Actor's Studio a copy of the play, he was invited to become the stage manager. He also traveled with noted American author John Steinbeck as a tutor to his children, and the two developed a close friendship.

McNally's first commercially produced play was And Things That Go Bump in the Night. After finding success in smaller venues, it premiered on Broadway in 1965,