Review: “Mary Jane” Is A Moving Ode To A Good Mom

Review: MARY JANE by Amy Herzog. Produced by Seattle Rep. Directed by Allison Narver. Scenic Design by Julia Hayes Welch. Costume Design by Heidi Zamora. Lighting Design by Connie Yun. Sound Design by Sun Hee Kil. With Brenda Joyner, Andi Alhadeff, Anteia DeLaney, Shaunyce Omar, Amy Thone. Onstage at Seattle Rep from March 19 to April 19, 2026. Tickets at https://www.seattlerep.org/plays/202526-season/mary-jane

No, it’s not a play about marijuana…instead, Amy Herzog’s drama MARY JANE, now onstage at Seattle Rep, is a semi-autobiographical look at the life of a woman caring for her chronically ill child. Yes, it’s poignant and moving but Ms Herzog avoids getting overly sentimental in her take on the life of Mary Jane, a thirtysomething single mother caring for her prematurally born son Alex who has a myriad of health issues and needs constant care.

Told over the course of two acts but combined into one in this production directed by veteran Seattle area director Allison Narver, the first half centers on homelife for Alex and Mary Jane in their small New York apartment, and people who interact with them over the course of a period of time, including their building’s gruff but kindly female super; a visiting nurse and her young niece; and another mother who also has recently given birth to a premature child with similar issues that Mary Jane is mentoring. In this first half of the play, we learn that Mary Jane is an exceptional mother determined to give Alex the highest quality of life and to help him get better and stronger. That is contrasted with the reactions of the other people she interacts with and we gradually get the idea that while Mary Jane is a great mom, she might also be overly optimistic about Alex’s condition and future. Alex, who we never actually fully see, is very severely disabled; Mary Jane is always very positive about his condition but when any other character expresses any doubt about Alex’s lack of ability, she’s always quick to blame it with “oh, he’s tired” or “he’s having a bad day”.

Alex’s problems intensify and in the second half of the play, we find ourselves following Mary Jane and Alex into a children’s ICU ward at her local hospital and her interacting with a whole new set of characters but they’re all played by the same four actresses from the first half. It’s a clever conceit for playwright Herzog; she’s doubled the number of characters for Mary Jane to interact with and provided 4 actresses the chance to create two very different performances. In a contemporary world where it’s nearly impossible to get a play professionally produced for casts larger than 5 or so, this is a smart way to get round that. It’s also a great way for Herzog to really demonstrate the power of a group of women to come together for one another; other than Alex, there are no other male characters with a presence in the play. It’s also a good way for the playwright to showcase her abilities at creating interesting, diverse, complicated and very real characters, one of Herzog’s great strengths as a playwright and one she’s shown in her other major works, Belleville and 4000 Miles (both have been professionally produced in Seattle).

The second half of Mary Jane also shows us the character of Mary Jane as she gradually begins to comprehend and accept her son’s fate. There’s a moment where Mary Jane questions the doctor about Alex getting so many x-rays and the danger of that radiation accumulating over time and the doctor patiently and kindly explaining their job is to get Alex stable and out of danger now and deal with any possible radiation complications down the road, with the doctor obviously implying that Alex isn’t going to live long enough for that to be a problem. Mary Jane seems stunned by that being said/implied and it takes her back for a moment, but then carries on…which is really the heart of what this play is about. Mary Jane the play is about Mary Jane the character and her journey as she cares for her son. It’s about her strength and determination and her charm but also about the blinders a parent and caregiver puts on in order to cope with the magnitude of dealing with their child’s condition. It’s a powerful piece of drama but also a subtle one; Herzog doesn’t overwhelm the audience with too much soap opera; it’s a believable story with relateable characters told with warmth and charm but also overlaid with grim reality. Alex isn’t going to live long but Mary Jane is going to give her child the best life he can live.

I like the play (though it’s also one of those plays that I don’t think I ever need to see again) and Allison Narver has done an excellent job of staging it. Apparently the play was written to be two acts but it’s been combined here into one and it doesn’t hurt the material; it’s briskly paced and over and done with in less than 90 minutes. There’s also the great moment when the warm, messy, lived in apartment set breaks apart and moves offstage to reveal the stark antiseptic glaringly bright and white world of a children’s hospital ICU. Julia Hayes Welch’s scenic design is excellent here as is Connie Yun’s lighting design. It’s a sharp looking production.

But, the show really runs on the big talents of this very excellent cast centered on the superb performance of Brenda Joyner as Mary Jane. I’ve seen Ms Joyner in many roles on Seattle stages over the years and I really can’t think of a performance where she wasn’t good. She’s a smart, grounded actress with a real gift for playing smart grounded characters in a warm and natural way. Amy Herzog’s plays are about small, gradual moments between characters and Ms Joyner and the entire cast are all very good at playing those moments.

The ensemble is also excellent headed by veteran Seattle actress Amy Thone, who’s adorably gruff as her first act character, Ruthie the Super and then gently questioning as a novice Buddhist in the second half. I always enjoy Shaunyce Omar who’s equally adept at belting out a Broadway hit song in a musical but then unlike many musical theater actors, she’s just as powerful in straight plays, here playing a caring nurse in Act One and then a caring Doctor in Act 2 but making both of them unique and memorable.

There’s also another veteran here, Andi Alhadeff and she’s another musical theater performer who also excels in drama and comedy and she’s also terrific here as a nervous young mother in Act 1 then completely different as a tough Jewish mother of a large family in the second half. Finally, there’s young Anteia DeLaney who gets to contrast her teenaged niece who has to cope with some unexpected drama in the first half, with a music therapist in the second. These double roles really give all four of these actresses a chance to showcase their talents.

So, while it’s not an easy play to navigate (can you really ‘enjoy’ a show about a chronically ill child?) Mary Jane is blessed with Amy Herzog’s thoughtful, moving script (and one based on her own life and experience with her daughter) and a very superb production from Seattle Rep. Very much recommended to fans of powerful, moving theater and well crafted drama.