Now on Broadway, ‘Mary Jane’ Mesmerizes Even With Subject Matter Than Can Be Difficult To Handle
Amy Herzog captures, with dialogue that feels bracingly, fearlessly authentic — and that is often very funny besides — how powerful love can be in the face of pain and loss and, just as significantly, the limits of that power.
When Amy Herzog’s “Mary Jane” had its premiere off-Broadway in 2017, I found it at once mesmerizing and nearly unbearable. I was happily married and the mother of a healthy 10-year-old, and the production starred a magnificent Carrie Coon as a single mom whose son — about a third the age my daughter was then — is severely disabled and suffers a series of setbacks as the play progresses.
Ms. Herzog and her husband, the director Sam Gold, are themselves the parents of two daughters; the elder was diagnosed with a rare muscular disorder and died last year, at 11. According to a publicist for a new staging of the play, which marks its Broadway premiere, there have not been extensive revisions.
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