Matt Doyle and Caroline Aaron see their own families in 'Conversations With Mother'

The Company and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel actors portray a mother and son whose relationship evolves over more than 50 years in Matthew Lombardo's play.

When Matt Doyle was cast in the new Off-Broadway play Conversations With Mother, he, of course, called his mom. "I'm doing a show about us," the Tony Award-winning actor recalls telling her.

Perhaps understandably, she was immediately "a little skeptical" and "very nervous." Her response was, according to Doyle, "Am I going to like the mom? Matt, if I don't like this mother, I'm going to kill you."

The comedy-drama play is not about Doyle's family, per se, but a fictional one with similarities to his own. The sole two characters — Italian American matriarch Maria Collavechio and her gay son, Bobby — are actually loosely informed by playwright Matthew Lombardo and his own mom, whose bond remained strong even as it evolved in response to life's ups and downs.

"The play deals with addiction and alcoholism and just things that pop up in life over the years that a mother and son have to deal with," Doyle said of the weightier themes the play tackles in between moments of humor. Those specific challenges don't necessarily apply to Doyle or Lombardo's families, but the emotional heart of their relationship is relatable.

"There's just this connection between a mother and a gay son that isn't often written about and talked about, and is kind of indescribable," said Doyle. "My sisters talk about it all the time, like [...] 'I don't get what you guys have.' If I ever act out or am being a little brat, my mom is the first person to defend me, and she gets me, kind of like a best friend."

All this and more Doyle has shared with Caroline Aaron, who stars as Maria and describes her as "a woman who has five other children, so it's not like [Bobby is] the favorite by default."

An actress known as matriarch Shirley on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and a real-life mother of two, Aaron came to Conversations With Mother with plenty of experience to share with Doyle in return. (Hopefully the fact that she also appeared in Big Night, a favorite film in the Doyle household, has alleviated Ms. Doyle's fears a bit.)

"He'll tell me stories about his mother, and I'll tell him stories about mothering a son," Aaron said. "There is something about the experience of being a mother that doesn't resemble any other emotional experience that you can draw from."

Watching her kids get older as Maria does Bobby is what Aaron relates to the most. Conversations With Mother unfolds by way of 12 interactions between the pair, spanning more than 50 years: Bobby grows from age 8 to 65, Maria from 37 to 76.

"Children grow up and they don't want a mother anymore, but it's very hard to turn off that spigot," Aaron said. "I'm just learning how to be an adult with my adult children [...] In the play, when the character is pushing back against my mothering, I go, "'This feels very familiar to me.'"

Aaron joked that she's even begun "mothering" Doyle — "I can't believe you're not wearing socks!" she had scolded him on the cold January day of our interview — a fact that proves the bond the actors have developed in rehearsal.

"I can put my mother into [Caroline's] shoes," Doyle said, and vice versa. (Echoed Lombardo: "Caroline Aaron is everyone's mother.") "We're both finding a lot of healing and a lot of inspiration just by being able to connect our own lives to these characters."

That's something he hopes audiences can do, too. "You're going to be able to relate to that moment that your mom is calling you too much and you're frustrated and you're forgetting what her circumstances are," Doyle said. "You're going to be able to relate, if you're a mother, to dealing with a child who, despite all of your best efforts, is going against every single bit of common sense."

Doyle's compassion is evidence of his entire approach to Conversations With Mother: "I do this for my mom," he said. With that attitude, how could he not make her proud?

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