Show and Tell: Andre's Mother

The play Andre's Mother by Terrence McNally demonstrates an example of a characters ability to speak without using spoken word. The title character is not actually in the play but the play is based around his life. The play begins in he middle of Central Park where the four characters are honoring Andre. The characters each say something about Andre then release a balloon signifying the acceptance of his death. After the first two characters, Arthur and Penny, release their balloons, it brings us to the main conflict with Cal and Andre’s mother. The main character in Andre’s Mother, Cal, was Andre’s boyfriend. Andre’s mother did not know Cal was Andre's boyfriend until the events in Central Park. Cal makes a desperate attempt to make Andre’s mother understand why Andre was who he was, and also to get her to understand why Andre never told her about him. Cal begins trying to connect with the mother. He tries but fails to connect with her. As he continues his failing attempt at connecting, the author uses silence and minor stage direction to get Andre’s mother to show emotion. The simple use of silence and physical emotion allows the audience to connect with the feelings of the mother. One connecting point would be “Her lips tremble. She looks on the verge of breaking down. She is about to let go of the balloon when she pulls it down to her. She looks at it awhile before she gently kisses it. She lets go.” Although the mother’s character remains silent, at the end of the play the audience is filled with her emotions of hurt and frustration. How “Andre’s Mother” was written in this peculiar way shows the author’s desire to connect to this specific character. By not allowing the mother to have any dialogue and letting the characters emotions pour out into the play, her feelings speak louder than words.