Davis Parks and Steven G. Anthony during rehearsal for Zoetic Stage's "The Mother." (Photos by Stuart Meltzer)"
“The Mother,” Florian Zeller’s drama about a mother dealing with the changes in her life, will kick off Zoetic Stage’s 16th season opening Friday, Nov. 7 in the Carnival Studio Theater at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami.
Davis Parks and Jeni Hacker in Zoetic Stage's "The Mother." (Photos by Stuart Meltzer)
“I have been wanting to present a play by Florian Zeller for years,” says Stuart Meltzer, Zoetic Stage’s co-founder and artistic director. “He is one of the world’s most exciting and challenging writers, but he’s less well-known here than he is in France and England, so I’m thrilled to present him here.”
The play, which is a Florida premiere, opens Friday night and is part of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts' “Theater Up Close” series.
This is the second work in Zeller’s celebrated play trilogy examining how individuals cope with complex emotional situations, following the Tony Award-winning play “The Father” and “The Son.” “The Mother” made its United States premiere in 2019 at New York’s Atlantic Theater Company.
“The Father” was made into a movie, and won Academy Awards both for Zeller, for the adaptation of his play, and for its star, Anthony Hopkins.
Meltzer says he is particularly enthralled with Zeller’s way of telling a story. Zeller, who is also a novelist, does not hew to linear storytelling but instead mixes reality and fantasy in a way that will have audiences guessing throughout the production, he says.
“I was floored when I read it. This is such an experimental way to tell a story, and to have the audience share a visceral experience while they grapple with it until they reach that ‘Aha’ moment together," he says.
Jeni Hacker as The Mother and Allie Beltran as The Girl in Zoetic Stage's "The Mother," opening its 16th season on Friday, Nov. 7. (Photos by Stuart Meltzer)
At the core of the play is a mystery, says Melzer, explaining that the story unfolds one night, as Anne, the mother, grapples with the changes in her life after her son has moved away, and her husband is away on a business trip. On that night, does her son comes home to sleep in his own room –or doesn't he?, the play asks.
Although Meltzer wants to bring the Father’s story here, he could not resist doing the Mother’s story this season because he knew he had in his company the perfect actress for the role—multi-Carbonell award-winner Jenni Hacker. “I knew this was a role that she could really sink her teeth into,” says Meltzer.
In an interview with miamiartzine.com, Hacker chuckles when told that Melzer considered her perfect for the starring role of “The Mother.”
Two of South Florida theater's most enduring actors, Jeni Hacker and Steven G. Anthony star in "The Mother" at Zoetic Stage. (Photos by Stuart Meltzer)
“I seem to have found my place in the South Florida theater scene as ‘the sad mom,’ says Hacker, noting that her all-time favorite incarnation of a mother was in Zoetic Stage's "Next to Normal," where she played “Diana,” a wife and mother struggling with bipolar disorder and the death of her infant son.
In discussing her latest Mother role, she says: “I wasn’t familiar with the play, not at all. Stuart gave me the script right after we closed “Fiddler” last spring.” He told me, “Here’s a wacky little play.” All I knew was it was by Florian Zeller, who had written the play, 'The Father,' and I knew that story was confusing at first, but incredibly intriguing and moving.”
She admitted that when she first read it, she was a bit confused.
“On my first read, I had no understanding of what was going on; I had to read it a second time before I realized we were dealing with at least two realities in the play – one is reality, and the other is the mother’s reality,” says Hacker.
Davis Parks and Jeni Hacker in Zoetic Stage's production of Florian Zeller's "The Mother." (Photos by Morgan Sophia)
But, although the play may be confusing at first, there is a big payoff, she notes.
“What is exciting is that the audience is going on this journey with us, and once they do, they are going to have that ‘aha’ moment where everything clicks into place.”
Although “The Mother” deals with a weighty subject, ‘ empty nest syndrome,’ and a mother having to find her bearings after her children have grown—it is also laced with humor, says Melter.
“This is a play that has an element of mystery, an element of comedy, and a big amount of drama,” he says.
“The Mother” features an all-local cast led by Zoetic Stage favorites Hacker and Steven G. Anthony, and newcomers Davis Parks and Allie Beltran.
Hacker has appeared in numerous Zoetic Stage productions, including as Golde in last season’s “Fiddler on the Roof.” Her other credits include “Sweeney Todd,” “Fun Home,” “Passion,” “After,” “Wicked Child,” “Into the Woods,” “The Actors,” “Grindr Mom,” and many more.
Playing “The Father” is Stephen G. Anthony, who is also a Zoetic Stage veteran, whose previous appearances include “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,” “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Passion,” “Rapture,” “Blister,” “Burn,” “Fear Up: Harsh,” and Zoetic’s very first production, “South Beach Babylon.”
As “The Girl,” Allie Beltran, who is Brooklyn-based, is a South Florida native. She makes her Zoetic Stage debut. in this production A partial list of her credits include "Golem Owned A Tropical Smoothie,” “It Can Happen Here!” “PDU Play Readings,” and she also has appeared in many regional theaters, and has film credits as well.
Davis Parks and Jeni Hacker in a photo that depicts the tone of Zoetic Stage's "The Mother." (Photo by Morgan Sophia Photography)
Davis Parks portrays “The Son,” and it is also his Zoetic Stage debut. A graduate of the University of Miami,” he is returning to Miami after roles in “Pirates of Penzance” at Cape Rep in Brewster, Mass., and “West Side Story” at Alhambra Theater and Dining in Jacksonville, Fla.
According to Meltzer, as with “The Mother,” the core of great theater is storytelling and he kept this in mind when selecting the rest of the plays for the season:
“The Inheritance, Part 1” by Matthew Lopez. The first part of a Matthew Lopez’s modern adaptation of E.M. Forster's “Howards End,” it explores the lives of a group of gay men in New York over three decades. Jan. 8-26, 2026
“Merrily We Roll Along.” Stephen Sondheim’s Tony award-winning musical about a trio of friends, the show details about one of them, who rises from a dreamy eyed composer to a sell-out film producer. March 12-April 5, 2026.
“Moses.” a one-man play about love, faith and going it alone. April 30-May 17, 2026.
WHAT: Zoetic Stage’s production of “The Mother”
WHEN: Nov. 7 through Nov. 23
TICKETS: $67-$73
Visit www.arshtcenter.org. or call the box office at (305) 949-5722.
