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The Member of the Wedding: The Play
The Member of the Wedding—which became an award-winning play and a major motion picture—showcases McCullers at her most sensitive, astute, and best.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
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328 people want to read
About the author
Carson McCullers
189 books3,220 followersCarson McCullers was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts in a small town of the Southern United States. Her other novels have similar themes. Most are set in the Deep South.
McCullers's work is often described as Southern Gothic and indicative of her Southern roots. Critics also describe her writing and eccentric characters as universal in scope. Her stories have been adapted to stage and film. A stage adaptation of her novel The Member of the Wedding (1946), which captures a young girl's feelings at her brother's wedding, made a successful Broadway run in 1950–51.
McCullers's work is often described as Southern Gothic and indicative of her Southern roots. Critics also describe her writing and eccentric characters as universal in scope. Her stories have been adapted to stage and film. A stage adaptation of her novel The Member of the Wedding (1946), which captures a young girl's feelings at her brother's wedding, made a successful Broadway run in 1950–51.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
October 16, 2020
“The trouble with me is that for a long time I have just been an I person. All people belong to a We except me. Not to belong to a We makes you too lonesome."
A play adaptation of Carson McCuller's own novel of the same name, written (I had to confirm) at playwright Tennessee Williams's own dining room table! A coming of age story featuring twelve-year-old (white) Frankie Adams, (black) middle-aged family cook Berenice, and young (white) friend John Henry. Frankie is a "tom boy" who is excited to be part of her brother's upcoming wedding. She's recently buzz cut her hair for no particular reason, she's awkwardly tall for her age, gangly, and will not wear a dress to this wedding. She's emotionally mercurial, sometimes rude and angry, sometimes funny.
“She was afraid of these things that made her suddenly wonder who she was, and what she was going to be in the world, and why she was standing at that minute, seeing a light, or listening, or staring up into the sky: alone.”
The emotional center of the play is Berenice, played amazingly by the awesome Rudby Dee in this audiotaped performance, who is calm and bemused and wise in the face of the Frankie storm. I read the novel decades ago and saw the movie based on the play, which i now listened to and liked, but I am mostly aware in this reading of the racial relations that are generally not highlighted in the play. McCullers wrote about the fate of blacks at the hands of her racist (and less racist) neighbors in her neighborhood in her autiobiographically-oriented.
In this play none of the blacks who have raised these kids and work for them are invited to the wedding, some are harrassed or falsely arrested in this southern town, and this isjust narrated as part of the fabric of the story. Just something I noticed more now than I may have noticed as a (white) reader in the same way decades ago. But it is a good, slice-of-life play.
A play adaptation of Carson McCuller's own novel of the same name, written (I had to confirm) at playwright Tennessee Williams's own dining room table! A coming of age story featuring twelve-year-old (white) Frankie Adams, (black) middle-aged family cook Berenice, and young (white) friend John Henry. Frankie is a "tom boy" who is excited to be part of her brother's upcoming wedding. She's recently buzz cut her hair for no particular reason, she's awkwardly tall for her age, gangly, and will not wear a dress to this wedding. She's emotionally mercurial, sometimes rude and angry, sometimes funny.
“She was afraid of these things that made her suddenly wonder who she was, and what she was going to be in the world, and why she was standing at that minute, seeing a light, or listening, or staring up into the sky: alone.”
The emotional center of the play is Berenice, played amazingly by the awesome Rudby Dee in this audiotaped performance, who is calm and bemused and wise in the face of the Frankie storm. I read the novel decades ago and saw the movie based on the play, which i now listened to and liked, but I am mostly aware in this reading of the racial relations that are generally not highlighted in the play. McCullers wrote about the fate of blacks at the hands of her racist (and less racist) neighbors in her neighborhood in her autiobiographically-oriented.
In this play none of the blacks who have raised these kids and work for them are invited to the wedding, some are harrassed or falsely arrested in this southern town, and this isjust narrated as part of the fabric of the story. Just something I noticed more now than I may have noticed as a (white) reader in the same way decades ago. But it is a good, slice-of-life play.
April 30, 2012
Have you ever seen a photo of Carson McCullers? I didn't until recently. There have been two authors lately that I did not know whether they were women or men. It really did not matter to me because I liked their work. Therefore had no idea whether it was a man or woman who's writing I liked. Then I had a conversation with my boyfriend about Carson McCullers who I called a man and Colum McCann who I called a woman. We had a good laugh at my transgendering authors as I saw fit mentally. But after that conversation I decided I needed to see photos of each author.
Carson's photo on Wikipedia is exactly how I would picture "a woman" who wrote The Member of the Wedding. She looks slightly discomforted by wearing a dress. She looks like she would be more than willing to search for nightcrawlers after a heavy rain with me. She looks sassy and I bet when she laughed it was without any restraint. I had a wonderful time imagining the tom-boy she was and much like I was in my youth. Maybe I still am from time to time. But there is not doubt in my mind that Carson is the heart and soul of the sassy voiced 12 year old Frankie Addams in this published play.
Frankie is very precocious for a young 12 year old southern girl. Her mother is deceased and she lives with her father. She spends the dog days of summer playing with her young cousin, John Henry. He is a bit of a riot. She also spends a great deal of time in the kitchen sassing the family maid, Berenice. The things she says tore me up. I could never imagine speaking to any adult as she did. Had McCuller's not disclosed Frankie's age, I would never have pegged her at 12. She behaves like a 17 year old girl sometimes and because she is very tall men mistake her age as well. The heart of the story is that Frankie's brother is getting married and it is her personal goal to leave with him after the wedding. She dreams of Alaska and snow, which she has never seen, but is escapism she seeks. She wants to leave her small town and be elsewhere. Haven't we all dreamed about that?
McCullers language, dialogue and the psychology of her characters is so vivid that your senses cannot help but play tricks on you while reading this play. I recently heard an interesting description about youth/adolescence. That when we are young we seem to be moving at the speed of light while everything around us seems to stand still. We believe people listen attentively to the everything we say. Our basic needs are met by family and friends. We seldom fend for ourselves. But as we become young adults we begin to slow down and in our adulthood it sometimes feels like we are standing completely still for years. Seldom does anyone listen attentively or rather we know they are faking it now. Our needs must be sought after by us alone. Fewer things are met by family and friends because we become independent. We earn we must fend for ourselves. It's an interesting description and one which is narrated delicately by Frankie in this play.
I loved this beautiful story. I'm so glad I looked at the photo of McCullers because I feel like I got to see Frankie grown up.
Carson's photo on Wikipedia is exactly how I would picture "a woman" who wrote The Member of the Wedding. She looks slightly discomforted by wearing a dress. She looks like she would be more than willing to search for nightcrawlers after a heavy rain with me. She looks sassy and I bet when she laughed it was without any restraint. I had a wonderful time imagining the tom-boy she was and much like I was in my youth. Maybe I still am from time to time. But there is not doubt in my mind that Carson is the heart and soul of the sassy voiced 12 year old Frankie Addams in this published play.
Frankie is very precocious for a young 12 year old southern girl. Her mother is deceased and she lives with her father. She spends the dog days of summer playing with her young cousin, John Henry. He is a bit of a riot. She also spends a great deal of time in the kitchen sassing the family maid, Berenice. The things she says tore me up. I could never imagine speaking to any adult as she did. Had McCuller's not disclosed Frankie's age, I would never have pegged her at 12. She behaves like a 17 year old girl sometimes and because she is very tall men mistake her age as well. The heart of the story is that Frankie's brother is getting married and it is her personal goal to leave with him after the wedding. She dreams of Alaska and snow, which she has never seen, but is escapism she seeks. She wants to leave her small town and be elsewhere. Haven't we all dreamed about that?
McCullers language, dialogue and the psychology of her characters is so vivid that your senses cannot help but play tricks on you while reading this play. I recently heard an interesting description about youth/adolescence. That when we are young we seem to be moving at the speed of light while everything around us seems to stand still. We believe people listen attentively to the everything we say. Our basic needs are met by family and friends. We seldom fend for ourselves. But as we become young adults we begin to slow down and in our adulthood it sometimes feels like we are standing completely still for years. Seldom does anyone listen attentively or rather we know they are faking it now. Our needs must be sought after by us alone. Fewer things are met by family and friends because we become independent. We earn we must fend for ourselves. It's an interesting description and one which is narrated delicately by Frankie in this play.
I loved this beautiful story. I'm so glad I looked at the photo of McCullers because I feel like I got to see Frankie grown up.
August 27, 2017
Digital audiobook performed by Jena Malone, Ruby Dee and Victor Mack (Recording of a live performance of LA Theatreworks)
Twelve-year-old Frankie Adams is bored with life and longing for adventure, for a sense of belonging to something “bigger.” When her older brother comes home on leave from the Army, to marry his girlfriend Janice, she becomes obsessed with the wedding and what it may mean for her own future.
This is the stage adaptation of Carson McCullers classic coming-of-age novel.
Carson McCullers has a way of writing her characters that draws the reader into their very souls. Frankie’s journey through this phase of adolescence is at once painfully distressing, funny and charming. I was, in turns, afraid for Frankie and amused by her.
I listened to the audio which is wonderfully acted by Ruby Dee, Jena Malone and Victor Mack. These talented actors really bring the characters to life. Ruby Dee plays Berenice, the family maid, who tries her best to guide Frankie. Jena Malone is perfect as the adolescent Frankie, full of dreams and plans one minute, and wallowing in misery the next.
Twelve-year-old Frankie Adams is bored with life and longing for adventure, for a sense of belonging to something “bigger.” When her older brother comes home on leave from the Army, to marry his girlfriend Janice, she becomes obsessed with the wedding and what it may mean for her own future.
This is the stage adaptation of Carson McCullers classic coming-of-age novel.
Carson McCullers has a way of writing her characters that draws the reader into their very souls. Frankie’s journey through this phase of adolescence is at once painfully distressing, funny and charming. I was, in turns, afraid for Frankie and amused by her.
I listened to the audio which is wonderfully acted by Ruby Dee, Jena Malone and Victor Mack. These talented actors really bring the characters to life. Ruby Dee plays Berenice, the family maid, who tries her best to guide Frankie. Jena Malone is perfect as the adolescent Frankie, full of dreams and plans one minute, and wallowing in misery the next.
December 16, 2021
Escuché la puesta en escena de esta novela, es la primera vez que escucho / leo el trabajo de McCullers y sin duda quedo con ganas de conocer más. La personalidad de Frankie me atrapó desde el inicio, una chica inteligente, precoz y con ganas de comerse y conocer el mundo. Me gustó como la autora dejó entrever la realidad de la sociedad en aquel momento, la presencia de la guerra, la discriminación hacia los afroamericanos, los estereotipos de género, entre otros. Una obra de teatro corta, llena de emociones, entretenida y atrapadora.
December 11, 2016
The best play I've read in at least a few years.
It's pretty much a "detail" of her novel of the same name, so on one hand it's illuminating to see such a succinct, studied distillation of the major themes of the novel. On the other hand, the novel offers so many more heartbreaking details, moments, scenes, and enlightenments that had to be chucked for the play. That said, it's fairly astounding how much she manages to pack in here. It never feels rushed, yet she covers all the major bases. I thought it'd be disappointing in comparison, but nope, it's a standalone masterpiece and one of the very finest examples of her genius. I would absolutely love to see it performed or see the movie. Frankie, Berenice, and John Henry are three of my new favorite characters, and Carson McCullers writes about them with such love that she's basically writing through them... she's all of them combined. They're the three puppets on her hands. (Not that she had three hands, but then again, I wouldn't be surprised.)
I'm actually really sad that she only has a couple more books I haven't read. What will I do after that?! She's my writer!
It's pretty much a "detail" of her novel of the same name, so on one hand it's illuminating to see such a succinct, studied distillation of the major themes of the novel. On the other hand, the novel offers so many more heartbreaking details, moments, scenes, and enlightenments that had to be chucked for the play. That said, it's fairly astounding how much she manages to pack in here. It never feels rushed, yet she covers all the major bases. I thought it'd be disappointing in comparison, but nope, it's a standalone masterpiece and one of the very finest examples of her genius. I would absolutely love to see it performed or see the movie. Frankie, Berenice, and John Henry are three of my new favorite characters, and Carson McCullers writes about them with such love that she's basically writing through them... she's all of them combined. They're the three puppets on her hands. (Not that she had three hands, but then again, I wouldn't be surprised.)
I'm actually really sad that she only has a couple more books I haven't read. What will I do after that?! She's my writer!
June 8, 2020
this sucks dude
October 13, 2012
This isn't the edition of the book that I have. First it's not the play, but it's the only option that doesn't include multiple novels by Carson McCullers. Mine is actually an audio book narrated by Susan Sarandon who does a masterful job of capturing the passion and emotion of the author.
This is a very fine coming-of-age story written in a smooth southern accent through the eyes of Frankie, a.k.a F. Jasmine Adams. But not written in first person. I love McCullers' style, her smooth, warm, descriptive phrasing. I will definitely read more of Carson McCullers.
This is a very fine coming-of-age story written in a smooth southern accent through the eyes of Frankie, a.k.a F. Jasmine Adams. But not written in first person. I love McCullers' style, her smooth, warm, descriptive phrasing. I will definitely read more of Carson McCullers.
December 24, 2015
I really enjoyed this play, which is based on the author's novel of the same name. Frankie reminded me a lot of myself and my friends when we were children, with her tomboyish ways, her feelings of being excluded, her desire for belonging, and her dreams of running away and finding life better in any place but the one she was in. Her obsession with her brother and his bride could have been creepy and weird, but it came across as such a childlike fantasy that it seemed more endearing than bizarre. I think I'll need to get my hands on the novel to see how it compares.
September 3, 2025
A play set around the simple premise of brief childhood antics beside life’s most welcome and feared realities.
January 25, 2025
Do you ever read the right thing at the right time where the story feels written for you? That its meaning is transformed by the experiences in your life at that exact moment. That on any other day its meaning might be diminished or even lost. Literature is a quiet friend that knows what we need when we need it. This edition by LA Theatre Works is beautiful. You'll find a unique bildungsroman drama about loneliness, dreams, innocence, and fragility.
June 17, 2018
Beautiful, unexpectedly poignant play about two women at different ends of a continuum, but experiencing in their own way, the endless cycle of tragedy and recovery, that is all human life. Frankie is young and inexperienced while Berenice is middle-aged and has seen it all (she's even missing one eye, and thus in the grand tradition of great prophets has been maimed in the accumulation for her wisdom), and both by turns ignore or treasure John Henry, a little boy from next door who loves them both unconditionally. As Frankie begins to learn of heartbreak, Berenice attempts to help her develop coping mechanisms but life, in its endless parade of events that happen to us or around us, demonstrates that there isn't much one can do but love what and who they can, while they can. Bittersweet and evocative of the mid-century South without being over-bearing about it, this is one of McCullers more naturalist pieces, mostly devoid of her trademark gothic touches, but still characterized by her deep compassion for her characters and all they suffer and enjoy.
January 30, 2017
Not as light weight and innocent as it seems at first read, McCullers’s short novel is feverishly frustrating. Frankie, a coming of age youngster is somewhat manic and obsessed with her older brother and his finance. But the question is why? Is she searching for a sense of belonging at the same time attempting to shake off her detested childish innocence? Is she trying to escape the feeling of social outcast among her peers? Is she crying out for her father’s attention? While much of this is conveyed in an almost comic tone, Frankie is clearly deeply troubled and miserable. Ultimately, McCuller’s leaves these questions about Frankie open to interpretation…and what happens to her after the wedding?
June 20, 2014
I picked this up on a whim, and finished it in one sitting. I've never seen the play, and saw only a small part of the movie. In fact, I can't remember the last time I read a play. This one is short and simple, despite its complex characters. I can see where it would be a compelling play, and I'm going to try to find the movie on Netflix or in the library. Highly recommended.
April 22, 2016
A beautiful story about growing up, or what you call growing pains. I don't remember reading the novel, but I fell in love with Frankie, Berenice, and John Henry <3
June 29, 2025
Look, I know I'm not supposed to root against a 12-year-old girl who simply wants better things, no matter how rude or delusional she gets, but, boy howdy, this warming up took a while. I will admit, however, that Frankie's obsessive nature shifts from tiresome to intriguing the more it evolves from daydreaming to mania. I get it, she desperately wants a life worth living and not many people leave her slow, quiet town. Knowing her brother and his bride are heading off once their wedding wraps puts the pair somewhere out there in the whole wide world. To Frankie, there's her town with her life and then the rest of creation and a new life (that could, potentially, give her everything she's ever wanted and more). But the whole play moves so quickly, so it's practically a reel of highlights (or lowlights, honestly).
Knowing that this is the author's adaptation of her own novel gives me comfort that the parts I wish were strung together, to connect the dots and interlock the many moving parts, exist out there somewhere (in aforementioned whole wide world). There's a lot of fascinating pieces here, definitely, but it's like looking at a jigsaw puzzle without assembly. I assume the novel puts it together. Here, it's just a lot of eavesdropping without witnessing the momentum or impact—telling without showing. But the craft is there. It's clear McCullers knows what she's doing. Maybe this story only works with more time. Not everything, especially with a southern wedding in the mix, moves both well and quick.
Knowing that this is the author's adaptation of her own novel gives me comfort that the parts I wish were strung together, to connect the dots and interlock the many moving parts, exist out there somewhere (in aforementioned whole wide world). There's a lot of fascinating pieces here, definitely, but it's like looking at a jigsaw puzzle without assembly. I assume the novel puts it together. Here, it's just a lot of eavesdropping without witnessing the momentum or impact—telling without showing. But the craft is there. It's clear McCullers knows what she's doing. Maybe this story only works with more time. Not everything, especially with a southern wedding in the mix, moves both well and quick.
November 25, 2018
I read the book, The Member of the Wedding, many years ago. It's a wonderful piece of Southern literature. The play is as well. Carson McCullers imbues the play with that unique texture of the South, a texture people from other parts of the country and the world struggle hard to understand. There is a quiet nuance of time and place and emotions that run deep in this play. The Member of the Wedding is not about events. It's about feelings, about those diaphanous moments in life that, through their transparency, impart the very essence of the structures of life. We are not meant to touch them. We are not meant to concretize them. We need only to allow them to roll over us, leaving behind a residue of sorrow and hope, allowing us to move from one passage of life to another. The Member of the Wedding is a classic of Southern literature as well as a classic of the American stage.
October 26, 2020
Shamefully, I am a new -omer to Carson McCullers. I had to wait a bit to get this book, but it was worth the wait. This is very much a coming of age story. Poor Frankie, F Jasmine, is truly clueless about herself and what she wants. She gets fixated on just leaving town with her brother and his new wife after their wedding. She knows little or nothing about physical love, so, not only does she see nothing wrong with that plan, but she also gets herself in a jam with a young sailor.
As typical of that time of life, she has a major meltdown when she is not allowed to go with them, but within time, she has moved on to a new friendship with a young girl and the typical fixations of a young teen.
McCullers captures this well with almost a stream of consciousness with dialogue. I sldo like this novel for its twling characteristics of the time period in which it was written.
As typical of that time of life, she has a major meltdown when she is not allowed to go with them, but within time, she has moved on to a new friendship with a young girl and the typical fixations of a young teen.
McCullers captures this well with almost a stream of consciousness with dialogue. I sldo like this novel for its twling characteristics of the time period in which it was written.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 30, 2018
This play, adapted from the novel of the same name, starts off with the interesting premise of a young girl falling in love with her brother’s wedding and wanting to run off with him and his bride. The characters are nicely drawn, and it provides a critical view of race relations in 1945 America.
Yet it doesn’t seem to get anywhere. Frankie, after a while, becomes an annoying and neurotic mess. The wedding comes and goes, and she’s told she can’t go with her brother and his bride, and she has the expected meltdown. Then suddenly everyone starts dying. A couple weeks later, Frankie, as annoying as ever, finds a new friend who’s now the focus of her manic neuroticism, and Berenice leaves the employ of the family. It doesn’t so much end as just seem to peter out.
Yet it doesn’t seem to get anywhere. Frankie, after a while, becomes an annoying and neurotic mess. The wedding comes and goes, and she’s told she can’t go with her brother and his bride, and she has the expected meltdown. Then suddenly everyone starts dying. A couple weeks later, Frankie, as annoying as ever, finds a new friend who’s now the focus of her manic neuroticism, and Berenice leaves the employ of the family. It doesn’t so much end as just seem to peter out.
April 10, 2019
I love the two of them so much because they are the we of me.
Pretty much exactly what I expected in a bildungsroman. The Member of the Wedding is a short play about young tomboy Frankie Addams' internal crises when her brother gets married and leaves, and her struggles to fit in and find her niche among others her age. Besides this, there are Berenice's subplots with T.T. and Honey, and both of their relationships with Frankie's adorable little cousin John Henry.
I watched the movie yesterday. It was pretty much exactly the same, but with more details in visuals. But alas -- a play is a play. I guess this is another staple. At least it went by fast.
September 7, 2020
Carson McCullers is a writer that was somebody in the days of Southern Gothic, a genre I've never followed very well, & I'm not sure I tracked the point of this story either. Is it a riff on Our Town? Was the point that Berenice, her mother in all but name, is mostly a prop in the drama that desperately gushing Frankie is trying to muster in her own life?
The nature of crushing & pining for popularity is interesting - so much so for the protagonist that she hardly seems to notice the deaths of people close to her.
Ah. ok.
The nature of crushing & pining for popularity is interesting - so much so for the protagonist that she hardly seems to notice the deaths of people close to her.
Ah. ok.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2020
I like to tackle classics I have never read every once in a while, and lately I’ve been eyeing possibilities from Carson McCullers. Frankly, (pun not intended,) after choosing to listen to the audio of the play version of AMOTW, (which Carson also wrote at Tennessee Williams’ dining room table, no less), I think I have seen or read this one before. In any case, it’s a simple, beautifully crafted dialogue-driven Bildungsroman - teenage angst which reminded me of something in the Catcher in the Rye canon. Throwing the novel on my TBR, as I’m sure it’d enhance and complete the experience.
December 31, 2018
I did not enjoy this. I just felt like the girl was a total lunatic. I didn't realize until after I had finished it that this is an abridged version of the novel. I think I would have enjoyed the novel more. But I wanted to do audio and I could not find an unabridged audio version of the novel.
September 4, 2021
Quick read. Of a certain era- late 40s in the South. Jim Crow very much apparent. She really gets how to present adolescence. Wonderful character development even in a short play. Sad she left us so soon.
November 19, 2024
I listened to the live performancee By LA theater works, featuring Ruby Dee. This work is more personal than I might like to admit. Early on providing recollections of my Capote like youth. At times, it made me very emotional. The truth of our American stories is a hard truth.
December 1, 2017
***3.8 STARS***
April 30, 2020
It was just ok.
May 6, 2020
A whole lot of complaining and nothing. Some interesting characters but not a lot of plot.
December 7, 2020
An interesting story. Think I’ll try to find the play/movie online.
August 3, 2021
Very moving and well-written. Now that I listened to the play, I want to read the novel it was based on. McCullers has a real talent for conveying the emotions her protagonist is experiencing.
January 11, 2022
I really love this. And the LA Theater Works presentation of the play as audiobook is fantastic.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews