Looking for Normal

by Jane Anderson

Roy and Irma have been married for twenty-five years. They have two children. They live in the heartland. They're respected members of their church and their community. When Roy and Irma go to their pastor for marriage counseling, Roy confesses that he's a woman trapped in a man's body and would like to have a sex change. As would be expected, Irma throws Roy out of the house. But their bond as a couple is stronger than either of them imagined, and eventually Irma finds a way to make peace with this unfathomable situation and accept her transformed husband as her lifelong mate. They not only have to wrestle with the meaning of their marriage, they must deal with the delicate dynamics of their family as well. Roy is burdened by his father's stubborn assessment of his manhood and his mother's sad acceptance of life's cruelties. Irma, in the midst of menopause, is struggling with her adolescent tomboy daughter, Patty Ann, who is raging against the injustices of her own budding hormones. And the grown and absent son, Wayne, who has always bemoaned his father's emotional limitations, is now outraged by his father's desire to be a woman. Overseeing it all is Roy's legendary grandmother, who left her husband and son to pursue her own sexual and emotional needs. The play explores the complexities of marriage, family and deconstructs the very notion of love.

Genres: Plays, LGBT

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Multiple authors with the same name. This author is entered with three spaces.



Jane Anderson’s plays have been produced Off-Broadway and in theaters around the country, including Actors Theater of Louisville, Arena Stage, Williamstown, The McCarter Theater, Long Wharf, and The Pasadena Playhouse. Plays include: The Quality of Life (2008 Ovation Award, Best New Play), Looking for Normal (2001 Ovation Award, Best New Play), The Baby Dance, Defying Gravity, Food & Shelter, Tough Choices for the New Century, Lynette at 3AM, and The Last Time We Saw Her. Her most recent play, The Escort (nominated for an LA Drama Critics Circle Award) was commissioned by the Geffen Playhouse and had its premiere in 2011. Works written and directed for film and television: The Prizewinner of Defiance Ohio; Normal (Emmy nominations for best writing, directing and best made-for-TV film, three Golden Globe nominations and Director’s Guild and Writer’s Guild nominations for best directing and writing); When Billie Beat Bobby; The Baby Dance (Peabody Award, a Golden Globe nomination and three Emmy nominations for best writing, directing and made-for-TV film); the first segment of If These Walls Could Talk II, starring Vanessa Redgrave (Emmy nomination for best writing). She wrote The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom for which she received an Emmy, a Penn Award and Writers Guild Award for best teleplay. Her other screenwriting credits include: How to Make An American Quilit and It Could Happen to Your.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Anderson wrote this play over 15 year ago about a middle-aged married couple in the heartland of America who hit a pretty significant bump in their relationship. Husband, Roy, confesses to his pastor and his wife that he is transgender and wants sexual reassignment surgery to become a woman. We've come a long way with this subject since the turn of the century when this play was published, but Anderson does a great job raising many of the issues that come with a decision like this.

The play bounces back and forth between scenes of the couple trying to come to terms with this decision, and monologues presented by their children and other relatives, giving context and history to the situation. The play was adapted successfully into an HBO film called Normal, starring Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Lange.

[Derrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic play.