On a cool Wednesday night in early April, a group of University students gathered in the Helms Theatre for a rehearsal of “I Am My Mother’s Daughter,” written and directed by fourth-year College student Mary Hall. Thrifted costume options spilled out of a series of reusable bags. Onstage, a door, a bench and a few black stage cubes stood in for the inside of a home.
Standing in the middle of this set, Hall facilitated a series of energetic warmups with her four cast members. As they prepared to enact a scene, she retreated to the house to sit next to her assistant director, who was flipping through a binder. The student writer-director then opened her laptop and settled in to observe as her thesis play came to life in front of her.
“I Am My Mother’s Daughter” represents the culmination of everything Hall has learned throughout her college experience. It is also the first theatrical work to be created as a thesis for the Distinguished Majors Program within the African American Studies department.
Hall is double majoring in drama and African American and African Studies and is intensely involved in theatre outside of the classroom — she has written short plays for Virginia Players Lab Series and the New Works Festival, directed for the New Works Festival and acted in University, student and professional productions.
Last year, Hall decided to apply for the Distinguished Majors Program in the African American and African Studies department upon learning she could complete a creative thesis — not a 40-page paper — as long as her project involved research. Combining her academic and extracurricular passions, Hall decided to write a play exploring a relationship between a Black mother and daughter, pulling from both academic and artistic resources to produce a moving and ambitious piece.
“I really liked the concept of exploring the relationship between the Black mother and daughter, because that's something that not a lot of research has been put into,” Hall said. “Over the summer, I … read a lot of books, a lot of articles specifically outlining the Black mother daughter relationship and outlining Black bodies in theatre, trying to combine all the different aspects that I learned in many of my different classes across both of my majors.”
As the summer before her fourth year came to a close, Hall started writing. She produced a first draft over the course of three months, then revised, revised, revised with the help of her thesis advisor, Assoc. Drama Prof. Theresa M. Davis.
Once she felt her play was in a good place, she submitted to Virginia Players Lab Series — a University Department of Drama and Virginia Players program which aids selected students in producing and directing their own theatrical work. “I Am My Mother’s Daughter” was accepted in December, gaining $200 in funding and access to Drama department rehearsal and performance space.
“That was the goal of writing it in the first place, and the goal of my DMP, my thesis,” Hall said. “I've had many opportunities to have my shorter plays produced, but being able to build a play from the ground up, write it, direct it, see the entire creative process over the span of a year was what was really important to me.”
The play centers on a young woman named Thalia who unexpectedly inherits her estranged grandmother’s rural North Carolina home following her death. She travels to North Carolina to set a plan to sell the house in motion, but soon finds herself uncovering family secrets and reexamining her relationships — especially her complex connection with her mother, Zora.
Hall received over 40 self-tape auditions, from which she selected her four cast members — second-year College student Spirit Chavis, fourth-year College student Gabriella Amina Watson, third-year Architecture student Darnell Glover and second-year College student Lillianne McMinn — who developed their performances over the course of a collaborative rehearsal process. Actors exchanged creative performance ideas with Hall and her two assistant directors, graduate Education student Matthew Tucker and second-year College student Hank Hawkins, and each member of the team played a vital role in shaping the production.
Hall’s approach to her subjects is multifaceted, reflecting dramatic, academic and personal perspectives refined over the course of her summer research process, which was made possible by a number of funding sources that helped support her project. She received a summer research grant from the African American and African Studies department, while a College Council scholarship and the Ingrassia Family Echols Scholars Research Fund enabled her to travel to North Carolina for the International Black Theatre Festival and to New York to experience Black theatre.
This research empowered Hall to develop her play within the context of existing Black scholarship and art. She said she hopes her play helps to counter stereotypical representations of Blackness she has observed in the media, especially representations of Black mothers.
“I’m writing from my experience and trying to dispel those stereotypes in the best ways that I possibly can, but also in a way that if you are not Black, if you're not a person of color, you're still able to see yourself in this relationship, or in all of these different relationships,” Hall said.
Hall’s exploration of generational trauma, grief and healing stood out to student actors auditioning for University productions at the beginning of the spring semester, including Chavis, who plays Thalia.
“I think the thing that resonated with me the most is [the play] was very personal,” Chavis said. “Family dynamics and carrying on trauma and trying to break that cycle between mother and daughter or grandmother to mother and daughter can be seen in most lives, even if it's not specifically that dynamic.”
Similarly, Watson, who plays Zora, said she was eager to be part of a nuanced depiction of a Black family — especially in collaboration with other Black students in an environment which reflected her cultural experiences.
“When you come to U.Va., comparing your families with other people, realizing there's a lot of cultural differences there, … coming from a perspective of Black families, you can be taught to repress and keep things down,” Watson said. “This play shows how having conversations is actually how we improve and not repeat those cycles of trauma.”
Hawkins said being part of a new play represents a unique and exciting opportunity, and he is eager to find out how audiences will respond to the work.
“It's not often you get to see a new play on its first performance,” Hawkins said. “It's very much about the raw rage and confusion that comes from moving into adulthood … I'm really excited to see how audiences resonate with it.”
As this first performance approaches, Hall reflected on her approach as writer-director of “I Am My Mother’s Daughter,” an approach informed by the support she has experienced over the course of her college experience.
“I try to take the same humanistic approach that all of my previous directors, fellow actors have bestowed upon me, so that I can make this the best play possible,” Hall said. “If we're not all enjoying the process, if we're not all feeling supported and well-rounded the way I've been supported these past few years at U.Va. … then everything I've done here is not a true reflection of everything that I've learned.”
“I Am My Mother’s Daughter” will be performed at the Helms Theatre April 18 at 8 p.m. and Apr. 19 at 2 p.m. Tickets are free to reserve.
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