Notes On My Mother's Decline

October 6, 2019

USA — World Premiere

“That bed. King-sized, at least. With space for visitors, and belongings and much much more. We used to lay towels on it and have Chinese food. We used to play Scrabble… I know you love me. That you are doing your best.”

Meet the Artists

Andy Bragen (Author) honors include NYSCA and NYFA grants, Workspace and Process Space Residencies with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Clubbed Thumb Biennial Commission, and a Jerome Fellowship. His produced plays include "This is My Office" (Playco), "Don’t You F**king Say a Word" (59e59/ABTP), and "Notes on My Mother’s Decline" (Playco/ABTP). Andy is an alum of New Dramatists, and has an MFA from Brown University. He teaches playwriting at Barnard College and at NYU Tisch.

Knud Adams (Director) is a Brooklyn-based director of artful, innovative new plays. His world-premiere production of English was cited as one of the best plays of 2022 by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Time Out New York, and Slant Magazine. Other recent productions include I'm Revolting at The Atlantic, Bodies They Ritual with Clubbed Thumb, Private with The Mosaic, Paris at The Atlantic, The Headlands at LCT3, and Notes on My Mother's Decline with The Play Company.

Ari Fliakos (Actor) has worked with the award-winning theater ensemble The Wooster Group since 1998, developing and originating roles in House/Lights, To You, The Birdie!, and Poor Theater (for which he won an Obie Award), among many more. His television and film credits include Company K, Pills, Limitless, The Mysteries of Laura, and Law & Order.

Caroline Lagerfelt (Actor) is a Paris-born American actress, long based in the United States, recognized for her roles on Broadway: Lend Me a Tenor, The Real Thing, Betrayal, Otherwise Engaged, A Small Family Business, The Constant Wife, The Philanthropist, The Jockey Club Stakes, Four on a Garden. London: Greta Garbo Came to Donegal. Off-Broadway: Nathan the Wise, Hamlet, Phaedra Britannica, Creditors, CSC Rep; Indian Ink, Moonlight, Roundabout; King Liz, Second Stage; Cloud Nine, Lucille Lortel; The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, New Group; Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom, Culture Project; Close of Play, Other Places, MTC; Quartermaine’s Terms (Obie Award). Film: I’ll See You in My Dreams, The Homesman, Minority Report, All the King’s Men, Wake, Poseidon, Altered Minds, among others. TV: Over 100 TV shows, including Gossip Girl, currently recurring on Netflix’ “Sweet Magnolias”; and “The Bold Type”.

Marsha Ginsberg (Set Design, Costume Design) is an Obie Award-winning scenic and costume designer working in theater, environmental performance and opera throughout the U.S. and Europe. Previously with Knud Adams: Every Angel is Brutal, Clubbed Thumb; Everybody at Hunter College. With PlayCo she
designed Stefano Massini’s Intractable Woman, directed by Lee Sunday Evans.
Upcoming: Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream at Deutsche Oper Berlin; St.
Giovanni Battista, Opera Omaha; Otello at Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam.
As a recipient of a Rome Prize, she will be in residence at American Academy in
Rome in 2020. She is an Associate Arts Professor at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Sophia Choi (Costume Design) is a Brooklyn-based costume designer. Her
recent credits include Anna May Wong: The Actress Who Died A Thousand
Deaths (Mabou Mines), Intelligence (Next Door NYTW), Detroit ’67 (Juilliard School), and An Enemy Of The People (Yale Repertory Theatre). She is an alumna of the Yale School of Drama, where her credits include Much Ado About Nothing, Mies Julie, Young Jean Lee’s Lear, and Three Sisters. She holds a BFA in Theatre Design from Virginia Commonwealth University, and is a recipient of the Zelma Weisfeld Scholarship for Costume Design. Member USA-829. www.sophia-choi.com

Oona Curley (Lighting Designer) is a lighting and scenic designer. Frequent/favorite collaborators include: Knud Adams, Tara Ahmadinejad, John Anselmo+Crew, Eliza Bent, Martha Graham Cracker, Jordan Fein, Morgan Green, Emma Griffin, Ásta Bennie Hostetter, Qween Jean, Jenn Kidwell, Jes Levine, Gunnar Montana, Kimie Nishikawa, Stoli Stolnack, Awoye Timpo, Annie Tippe, and Whitney White. Oona is a company member of Lightning Rod Special (Underground Railroad Game, The Appointment), Associate Artist: Bearded Ladies

Peter Mills Weiss (Sound Design) is a theater artist and designer. His most
recent show, 50/50 old school animation, premiered at the 2019 Under the Radar Festival at the Public Theater.
www.peterjulia.com

Molly Shea (Stage Manager) Select Theatre Credits: we are continuous (Williamstown Theatre Festival), A Walk On The Moon (George Street Playhouse), Tambo and Bones, BachelorX (Playwrights Horizons) Sing Street (Broadway & NYTW) Notes On My Mother's Decline, Time's Journey Through a Room, Oh My Sweet Land, Villa (PlayCo) Little Women (Primary Stages) This Is The Color Described By The Time (New Georges). Select TV/Film Credits: Tony Awards Ceremony, That Damn Michael Che, Younger, Beat Bobby Flay.

Will Steinberger (Producer) is a Drama League Award nominated director and producer. He has directed and developed new plays with New York Stage and Film, Clubbed Thumb, New Dramatists, Hartford Stage, the Drama League, Berkshire Theatre Group, New Light Theatre Project, the Wilma, and InterAct. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Forward, WHYY, Philadelphia Weekly, and Philadelphia Magazine. WSteinberger.com.

Late at night, while his baby daughter sleeps, a son makes notes on his mother’s daily life and scenes from their complicated relationship. He is shaping a play, and a perspective. Two blocks away, his mother naps, and smokes, and reads, and drinks coffee. She is shaping her existence within encroaching confines. This New York story asks how we come to know one another as parents and as children. How do we care for those we love, and what does it take to live with – and without – them?

CLICK TO READ THE TDF INTERVIEW WITH PLAYWRIGHT ANDY BRAGEN