'Night Mother Response

'Night Mother by Marsha Norman is a very heavy play in terms of subject matter, and most likely is not one that I would pay to see- just due to the subject and personal reasons. The obvious major dramatic question that presents itself early on in the text is whether or not Jesse will actually go through with killing herself. I agree that the question is very important and could be considered the major dramatic question, but, should not be considered to be the sole question in consideration throughout 'Night Mother. Other questions that should be considered as sub-questions to the major dramatic questions are:
Will Jesse leave her mom prepared enough to take care of herself?
Will Jesse free her mother from extra problems by choosing to kill herself?
Will Jesse reason with her mother? Will Jesse decide that her life is valuable and listen to her mother?
Will her mother be able to stop her from committing the act? Will her mother be able to find out why?
If you consider these "sub-questions" alongside the major dramatic question, you will be able to add much more depth and understanding to the text as a whole. I do not think that picking one over-arching question would really benefit the script in its entirety because it would leave important pieces of information out, so, the use of the sub questions will help fill out the gaps. The sub-questions may get answered before the very end of the text, but, I believe that is permissible as the characters still have more goals/major objectives that they are fighting for. All of the questions will be answered by the end, with the most obvious (spoiler alert) that Jesse indeed does kill herself, but, we will have more of an understanding with all of the mentioned questions.

From a personal stand point, I did not enjoy reading this play as suicide is a subject that is close to me.