A Mother's Heart
by Joyce Carol Thomas
adapted from her book of poems, A Mother's Heart, a Daughter's Love

"A Mother's Heart" is a dramatic two-woman, three-character play. In two acts an African-American daughter and her mother take us on a sometimes troubling, sometimes harmonious, and always engaging ninety-minute journey.

In this play set in Berkeley, California, clashes of wit and will test the relationship between daughter, Sherrie, and mother, Marthafrom adolescence, through adulthood, and beyond.

A Mother’s Heart scenes include a basketball court; a spirited, high-stepping, hip-swishing contest in the family parlor; a street party on Telegraph Avenue as well as a life-and-death wait in a hospital emergency room.

The characters’ actions ask the questions that all daughters and mothers must consider: "Why don’t you paint me like I am?" "How do we understand that the rhythms of life and love pulsate with laughter, anger, joy, and forgiveness?" And finally, "How do we learn to trust the love flowing from heart to heart?"