My Mother Said I Never Should

by Charlotte Keatley, Jenny Stevens (Series Editor), Charlotte Keatley

'In its revelation of mother-daughter emotions over the years, the play is without rivals. It is a classic' The Times 'This is a landmark play. The theatrical equivalent of breaking the four-minute mile; like Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, pointing the way for the next generation of playwrights in form and content' Guardian Charlotte Keatley's first main stage play My Mother Said I Never Should was premiered in 1987 at Contact, Manchester, and in 1989 at the Royal Court Theatre, London. It has been translated into twenty-two languages and is performed across the world. The play moves back and forth through the lives of four women, and sets the enormous social changes of the twentieth century against the desire to love and to be loved. In 2000 it was chosen by the Royal National Theatre as one of the hundred Significant Plays of the Twentieth Century. Commentary and notes by Charlotte Keatley.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Fiction, Female Authors, Gender

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1989

Reviews

[Georgiana Draica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm just starting to get into playwriting and a book such as this truly helps with that unforgettable experience. I'll, for sure, think about this book when my mind wanders elsewhere.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4:

Charlotte Keatley's powerful, poignant and bittersweet drama focuses on four generations of women as they confront the most significant moments of their lives.

A kaleidoscopic time structure spanning from 1923 to 1987 builds the chronology of one family in which we witness how profoundly the choices of one generation affect the potential of the next. The women balance the complexities of motherhood, education, career and self-expression and a decision is made that will affect all their lives irrevocably.

2/2: The four women revisit Doris's snowbound house following Jack's death; as they pack up the objects and clothes of 70 years of family life memories haunt and buried secrets threaten to surface.

DORIS..... Lesley Nicol
MARGARET.....Siobhan Finneran
JACKIE.....Cecilia Appiah
ROSIE.....Bebe Massey
CHILD DORIS.....Matilda Kent
CHILD MARGARET.....Isla Pritchard
CHILD JACKIE.....Mimi-Raie Mhlanga

Pianist Adam Hutchins
Sound Design by Sharon Hughes
Production Co-ordinator Pippa Day
Written by Charlotte Keatley
Produced and Directed by Nadia Molinari

A BBC Studios Audio Production

[Emma Cahoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am completely undone by this play! I simply cannot believe I’ve never known it until now. I think this is simply a must read for contemporary playwrights & lovers of dramatic literature.

Mother/daughter dynamics and generational lineage are two of my favorite themes to consider in my own life and work. This plays toys with them in ingenious ways and feels as if it came directly from my heart and mind.

MUST READ!!!! Possibly my new favorite play. I must work on a production of it at some point in my life.

[Am · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great nostalgic read for me, as I did this play for an exam a few years back and reading certain scenes let memories flood back!

We see 4 generations of women within this play, each a product of their time. I'm a sucker for literature on mother-daughter relationships so you can't really go wrong here! I love the Wasteland scenes where all the characters are the same age as young children messing around and playing together. There are a lot of themes and aspects that can be studied and really be delved into, and I love that. Wanna get back to my drama analytic times now hehe!

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm playing Rosie in an amateur production of this, hence why I read it, but wow, what a masterful piece of storytelling. Keatley really understands the characters she creates, crafting such powerful, visual scenes out of regular events.

[Jodie Kindell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Studied her and thoroughly enjoyed it

[Michael Reffold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, and probably even better when performed (and possibly less confusing with the time jumps etc).

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting, cleverly written play that looks at the generational divide in a new way, displaying not only their differences but their similarities and emotional inheritance, as well as exploring the impact of the different eras on the women. A moving play, full of the ups and downs of life - although some people may find the character of Jackie selfish - giving away her baby and focusing on her career - I feel mainly sympathy for her: it was a decision that she was pressured to make and had little choice. It would be a really interesting and thought provoking play to watch on stage, especially due to the use of the same 4 actresses to portray the women at varying ages from childhood to old age. Reading the commentary, it is astonishing to see how much thought Keatley put into the play, right down to sentence level choices - this helps to justify close reading for me, which, until now, I didn't wholly believe to be correct in its constant level of detail.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this play and it really touched me. Especially Jackie's separation from Rosie - I cried a couple of times I must admit. I found the differences between the characters very interesting, but there was always a sort of underlying similarity... I hope to one day see this performed.

[Kim Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful script.

I first saw it performed by the insanely talented women who were seniors at BU my freshman year, in a student production directed by Moritz vonSteupenagel, way before his Tony noms. It featured Ginnifer Goodwin, too!

This is a play I would love to direct with a cast of fierce actresses someday and would be great to consider if you're a college professor.

[Lau]

What can we say? Women love medling in others' lives, especially if those others are their children. The problem is when this "innocent medling" scars your children for life

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this when I was performing in it as part of our drama GCSE. It's a tale of separation and sacrifice and was an emotional read

[Blandine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Natalie D]

read for A2 Drama

[Hannah-rose Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very compelling play. I enjoyed the humor and the different storylines that were all connected :)

[Lia Windsor · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn’t like this, probably because it’s for school and making me stressed but at least now I know more about the character I’m playing.

[Rachel Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Mother Said I Never Should by Charlotte Keatley
Genre: playscript

I had to read this play for some GCSE coursework. I must say, it is a rather complicated read and the characters are rather basic. I can imagine that on the stage it would be a lot more understandable and you could experiment a lot with the characters and design. The story itself has it's "I can't put this down" moments occasionally but in general it is rather forgettable if you were to just read the script like I have and not watch/perform the play. I am giving it four stars because even though the read itself is, in my opinion, only worth three, if I was to have performed it I may have got a bit more out of it.

Rating: 4 ☆

[Abeer Abdelhamid · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Mother Said I Never Should
تأليف شارلوت كيتلى وقامت بترجمتها سناء صليحة بعنوان " أمى قالت لا" فى كتاب "نصوص من المسرح النسائى"
مسرحية نسائية من الدرجة الاولى.. ابطالها اربعة نساء من اجيال متعاقبة.. الجدة الام والجدة والام والابنة.. وتدور احداث المسرحية فى حقبات زمنية مختلفة تظهر فيها نلك البطلات فى مراحل زمنية مختلفة وما يترتب عليه من مشاعر ومواقف مختلفة.. وتسلط الضوء على العلاقة ما بين الام وابنتها مع اختلاف الأزمنة والمراحل والشخصيات
المسرحية قائمة على التنقل بالزمن مرة للامام ومرة للماضى وهكذا ثم للامام مرة اخرى ومن خلال ذلك نرى الى مدى يمكن ان يعير الزمن من المواقف كما نستطيع ان نفهم تفسير مواقف معينة بناءا على ماضى الشخصيات
ربما تكون المسرحية مربكة فى البداية ولكن بعد مرحلة معينة شعرت بالاندماج مع الابطال واعجبت بالفكرة

[Natalie Caisley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook- This is actually a play but it’s a really great bit of storytelling . When Margaret’s daughter Jackie falls pregnant at 18 a decision is made that will affect their lives completely. It covers the 4 generations of a family and their close knit relationship. The dialogue is so detailed that you immediately get drawn to the characters. Loved it !!

[Chris Omaweng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not always the clearest of scripts to read as it jumps between locations and generations. But it has that still relative rarity of portraying women in a wholly convincing and natural way, without being preachy. Intelligent and intelligible.

[Skye Collacott Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's been a while since I read it for my GCSE drama monologues. When rereading it and I got to my monologues I can still remember all the stage directions and my voice (Jackie s5 and Doris s8). It is a rather short play but it's very good.

[Honey Riva]

for uni

[Grace Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever play! (little confusing with the time jumps, but I saw it first on stage so that helped). Felt very real

[Danni · Rating 3 out of 5]

**uni read - britain modern stage**
this play was interesting and creative, I think I would have given it more stars if it was less confusing!

[Emily Rennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful script! I imagine seeing it on stage is even more so!

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably works well on stage with a good director, but I didn't understand it by reading off the page. I sort of got some of the points, but they seemed quite weakly made.

[Hagar Hussein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it in Arabic and loved it!
It is so relateable.

[Dick Pieper]

Fascinating reading; I love drama, and this one moved me deeply. It is nigh impossible not to get involved and gripped by these so very different characters. A favourite!