I Never Sang for My Father

by Robert Woodruff Anderson

Anderson, Robert, I Never Sang For My Father

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Young Adult, Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Robert Anderson (born Robert Woodruff Anderson) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and theater producer.

He is best remembered as the author of Tea and Sympathy. The play made its Broadway debut in 1953 and was made into an MGM film in 1956; both starred Deborah Kerr and John Kerr.

Reviews

[Phillip Cushman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am writing from memory so this is not directly quoted. What does it matter if a father does not love his son or a son his father? Death ends a life but it does not end a relationship which struggles on in the survivor's mind toward some resolution which it never finds. The story in a nutshell. Beautifully written and gut-wrenching.

[ML Character · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huh, well I liked this a lot more than I think I should since I don't really care about realistic drama. I suppose the smallness of the family drama (what is it to deal with your aging parents? How can we love them if we can't even figure out how to like them and vice versa?) suits the format, and hits close to home although I don't really feel that way about my father. It does pretty precisely capture a very recognizable family dynamic which, due to its familiarity and poignance, worked on me. That said, I still don't necessarily feel like sitting through this in a theater any time soon.

[Newly Wardell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exactly the happiest play of all time but it is thought provoking.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this play my junior year in high school and re-read it for my book club. This is an amazing story about relationships and life. It was definitely worth reading the second time and made an even greater impact on me now that I am 20 years older.

[Martin Denton · Rating 4 out of 5]

In general, if you were a successful American playwright in the '50s and '60s and you're not Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, William Inge, Edward Albee, or Neil Simon, then your work is probably not being looked at much by contemporary audiences. This is a shame: we can't really understand how we got to where we are without lingering a little over where we were. Works like Robert Anderson's I Never Sang for My Father, reflective of a moment in our collective history from not so very long ago, have much to show us about ourselves.

The drama of fathers and sons is one of the enduring American theatrical themes: Anderson and I Never Sang for My Father help mark the transition from the cataclysmic vision of Arthur Miller to the apocalyptic vision of Sam Shepard. Their more politically-charged plays look outward from the damaged central relationship; Anderson's looks inward, searching for a way to reconcile the ferocious, prideful self-made American male with the smooth, sophisticated, painfully insecure generation that followed.

I Never Sang for My Father tells the story of Gene Garrison, a forty-year-old widower who finds himself forced to deal with his parents as they cope with the effects of old age. Gene and his mother, Margaret, have a loving and supportive relationship, but his father Tom remains emotionally distant even as he realizes the extent to which he must depend on his son. Gene tells us that he wants to love his father, but cannot; as the events of the play unfold, there are moments when Gene comes close to reaching Tom, but genuine reconciliation and respect are, not surprisingly, unachievable.

Tom is a marvelous creation--bitter, difficult, proud, heroic: a self-made mogul who labored hard to provide for his family but lacked the means to give them the emotional support they craved; a self-involved, borderline senile old bore who complains that everyone he knows only wants to tell the story of their lives, even as he repeats and repeats his own. All of us know--maybe even have--fathers like Tom. One of the triumphs of Anderson's work is the way he takes us into Tom's head, letting us recognize some of the instincts--for survival, for recognition, for respect--that helped create this unlovable monster. We can't like Tom, but we can understand him.

Gene stands in for us, confronting inevitable issues about caring for parents, trying to balance his own needs and desires with responsibilities real and perceived. Today we'd be tempted to call his relationship with his mother co-dependent, but it's lovely to see a mother and son as simpatico as these two; united, to be sure, by bonds to the father that are as unwanted now as they are unbreakable; but also by genuine affection and mutual admiration.

Anderson sketches a complex family dynamic here, and impressively it mostly holds together many years after its creation. (What does feel dated is the pyschoanalytic backchat between Gene and his hostile older sister Alice; theories of human behavior go out of style, but the way people behave never really changes, right?)

[ness · Rating 4 out of 5]

bought this at my library's book sale! i decided to read it in honor of my creative writing teacher, who loves drama, so i'm trying to give more dramas a chance. short but solid characters and conflict. i especially liked the use of stage directions to show when gene was by himself, talking about the past. my favorite instance was towards the end when he's talking about his father and he says: "death ends a life but it does not end a relationship, which struggles on in the survivor's mind toward some resolution, which it never finds."

[John Geddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting look at the relationships between men across generations, although I don’t know if societal expectations have changed enough that this very familiar feeling relationship may feel anachronistic before long.

[Concetta Kellough · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather mild drama of the relationship between a man and his aging father. Death of a Salesman also explores the relationship between sons and an aging father, but is much more interesting.

[רות · Rating 4 out of 5]

fucking ouch

[Minister Jane Trivigno · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book means so much to me, in 62 pages it says so much about human relationships.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good play. A father son story.

[Mirtha Dominguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

funny read and emotional

[Sajah Kuderman · Rating 3 out of 5]

a great story about the experiences and expectations put on the masculine identity in relation to the father/son family dynamic. incredibly realistic and relatable, as well as devastating

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This play addresses the themes of generational disconnection and the cruelty of time in a way that is tragic and seemingly universal.

[Rusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather dated play, but still powerful. A lacerating look at the troubled relationship between an aging father and his son who is struggling to love him.

[Carolyn Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

A highly recommended play, that explores the complexity of emotion surrounding a difficult father-son relationship. This play was first produced in 1968, but the script says "Time--now". Unlike other plays so delineated, the script doesn't date itself, and this play could be set in any Post-1950s period. I also think this play would be perfect for translation and overseas production, as the family values I think would resonate with other nations.

[Morgan Kail-Ackerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great play! It is a good show for a budget and has some very good conflicts. Very sad but good story about a death and family and relationships and the connection between men and their mother versus men and their father.

[W.B. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I Never Lambadaed for my Father. But I didn't write a whiny book about the failure to do so, either.

[Aziel · Rating 5 out of 5]

asdadadwaeqwe

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad tale of a son trying to please his austere and impossible to please father.

[Lyric · Rating 2 out of 5]

With the right lighting and cast I'm sure this is a very touching play.

[Winona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before you read make sure you have some tissue.

[paulA neves · Rating 3 out of 5]

For this kind of a play, whose language is so dated, the real key is the adaptation, staging and acting. I was interested though in the fact that Anderson was married to Teresa Wright, one of my favorite mid 20th century character actresses, and that she played the part of Alice.