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Background
Marsha Norma a an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She was born on September 21st, 1947. She had won a Tonny Award for writing the book and lyrics for The Secret Garden. She grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. She was the oldest of four siblings. Bachelor's degree from Agnes Scott College and then a master's from Louisville University. She proceeded as a journalist, then helped teach kids and adolescents in mental institutions. -
Bachelors degree
Bachelor's degree from Agnes Scott College, for this she learned bout humanities in 1961. She had come to this college because of a scholarship she had received. She wanted a better understanding of what it means to be a human, questions, and resilience with suffering. -
Master Degree
Then a master's from Louisville University, for this she studied Arts in teaching in 1971. As to this education, she decided to work with young people in a mental setting. -
Third and Oak
Third and Oak is about a play where two women are to meet at a laundry mat room and share stories about loneliness and heartache. In this play, there are various scenes that were created to keep acting in different settings. -
The Pool Haul
This play is about a tense setting of a young black disc jockey( African American that play music like rythms and blues) and older owner of piil hall was close friends with the DJ'S late father that explores themes of a family legacy and contrast of characters. -
Night Mother
In 1979, Marsha was to do her first produced play about a daughter who was going through a suicidal mindset and her mother tried to take that out. Though through all misery she couldn't even depend on nothing stoping her. -
Travler in the dark
This is characterized by an actor named Sam, who is a brilliant surgeon, whose absolute faith in medical science is to be discovered when he can't save the woman he loves (his wife) from cancer. He sent his son away for him to cope with this crisis as well. -
The laudrymat playwright
As Third and Oak are related to the same story of a connection that happens to two females who compare themselves in ways they connect with vulnerable, hidden aspects of themselves. -
Tony awards
Her first Tony Award was given for her play "The Secret Garden". For this show, it premiered on Broadway as its storytelling is about grief and loss found within one another. -
Loving Daniel Boone
In this play, it's about a museum woman who cleans as she goes on a journey to explore the historical things inside and finds love and heroism (bravery). -
Getting out Play
In this play, it speaks about the journey of a lady named Arlene, a woman who explores her new life after getting out of prison, serving eight years. But with this, she is constantly reminded of her mistake of second-degree murder. -
Turdy Blue
The play is about a writer named Ginger who is going through a tough time in her life. She’s dealing with a mid-life crisis, problems in her marriage, worries about her health, and struggles with her writing. The story looks at how people can feel disappointed with life, how powerful imagination can be, and how the line between real life and fiction can blur. Ginger’s connection with a character she made up, Trudy Blue, who represents her hopes and fears. -
Last Dance playwright
Charlotte wants to be alone and focus on herself, but her relationships with a young lover named Cabot and a visiting professor named Randall make things more complicated. As she tries to control the situation by pushing Cabot toward a young poet named Georgeanne and made effort for Randall to date Georgeanne’s mother. The play looks at selfishness, manipulation, and how relationships can get messy, all set in a world full of beauty and pleasure. -
Tony Award Nomination
She had received a Tony award for Best Book of a Musical, which was for the play "The Color Purple". The Color Purple was on Broadway in 2005. To this she had written it in a Musical play instead of a play, directing the lyrics for it. -
Other words for the play
This play can be described in words as desperate survival, control, aggressive, threatening -
Rough Theater play
The play Night Mother was acted out in a thrust stage. The two protagonists are Jessica and her mother. A suicide plan from the daughter who had a past life she couldn't handle living for no more and best plan to her was death. -
Night Mother Play outlook
Thrust theater, bright lighting, color palette pastels, home decor was a home that seemed small yet comfortable, Wardrobe was same through the whole play. -
Night Mother play Characters
Mother was loud, emotional, and careful, but not at all times with her language. Was an elder, so less patience was expected, reliant on others.
Jessie(Daughter) was threatening, aggressive, and was very controlling of how things were done at home. She had her plan of ending life, yet didn't reach out for the past 10 years she needed help. -
Mental awareness
In this play, Jessie was struggling mentally with a life she thought was so miserable. Before Jessie moved in with another mother, she had gone through a divorce in which her spouse hadn't liked the fact that she smoked, while she found that the only way to enjoy life or the moment. To this, they got a divorce, then while living with another mother, she didn't look for a job because of a failure of not be paid enough, then never went out, made friends, and hated being indoors like she was stuck. -
Present time of 2025
She now works on her books called "The secret Garden" and "The Color Purple", for them to be performed. Recently in June 12th of 2025 she had one of her books be proformed in a musical and it was claled "The Brudges of Madison Country" and perfored in Chromolume Theater on June 12th, 2025. -
Work-cited pages
“BOMB Magazine | Marsha Norman.” BOMB Magazine, bombmagazine.org/articles/2000/04/01/marsha-norman/. “Marsha Norman — College of Arts Sciences.” Louisville.edu, louisville.edu/artsandsciences/news/events/hallofhonor/inductees/norman.html. Wikipedia Contributors. “Marsha Norman.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Apr. 2025.