‘Happy Days’ Stars Linda Purl, Anson Williams Reunite for New Play

Actress Linda Purl will play 16 characters in the one-woman show ‘Crazy Mama,’ directed by Anson Williams.

(Left) Linda Purl attends the "The Bold and The Beautiful" photocall in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, on June 19, 2023. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) (Right) Anson Williams attends Garry Marshall Theatre's Gala Honoring Original "Happy Days" Cast in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 13, 2019. Rachel Luna/Getty Images

Actress Linda Purl has teamed up with her former “Happy Days” costar Anson Williams on a gripping theatrical production that seeks to raise awareness about the nuances of mental health.

“Crazy Mama: A True Story of Love and Madness” debuts on March 26 at the Rubicon Theatre Company, a performing arts venue in Ventura, California.

Purl, 69, will portray 16 different characters in the one-woman play, which is directed by Williams, 75, and runs through April 13.

The production is based on the award-winning memoir by Williams’s wife, Sharon Scott Williams, in which she recounts her decades-long efforts to save her mother from her debilitating mental health struggles.

“This exquisitely crafted, emotionally riveting tale begins with young Sharon racing home a few days after her 8th birthday for the last piece of cake. But when she enters the kitchen, she finds her mother wielding a knife and lost in a frenzy,” a synopsis reads.

“As the Sheriff escorts her mother away, the deputy tells Sharon that her mama ‘is not right in the head.’ As Sharon’s mother becomes more delusional and lost in the soul-crushing grip of mental illness, Sharon, her father, and teenage brother, Spikey, hope and pray for a cure.”

In a recent interview with The Epoch Times, Purl said the play is “a beautifully written piece laced with humor, pathos, and wit.”

“There are 16 characters in it because this trauma has collateral damage—it affects everyone around the mother who has this psychotic break,” the actress shared. “It affects the neighbors, the nurses nearby, certainly the immediate family, the extended family.

“So I think one of the things that Sharon illustrates is that these kinds of tragedies don’t just happen to one person—they happen to a web of people,” she continued.

“It creates a really wonderful opportunity for, hopefully, the audience to understand a little bit more and maybe get permission to discuss these things.”

‘Crazy Mama’

Throughout the play, audiences will see the character “Mama” committed to various mental institutions, leading her husband to turn to drinking in order to cope, while her son contends with his faith.

Drawing on Scott Williams’s own experiences, the autobiographical play will chronicle the playwright’s 46-year quest to heal her family.

“I hope that [the play] will reach audiences on a deeply personal level, leaving them to think about mental illness—and their own mothers—as they never have before,” the writer said in a statement.

Speaking to The Epoch Times, Anson Williams said the play centers on whether Scott Williams can ever get her mother back.

“It might sound like a real negative—mental illness—but it makes mental illness a very tactile, embraceable problem through humor and drama and emotion,” Williams explained.

The Golden Globe-nominated actor is best known for playing Potsie Weber on the hit sitcom “Happy Days,” which aired from 1974 to 1984. He has also directed a variety of television shows, including “Sabrina: The Teenage Witch,” “Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” and “Xena: Warrior Princess.”

Artwork for the theatrical production of "Crazy Mama: A True Story of Love and Madness," debuting at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, Calif. on March 26. Courtesy of Anson Williams

Williams said his wife’s play also explores how people can better manage mental health challenges, which are widespread across the United States and around the world.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than one in five Americans are living with a mental illness, including anxiety and mood disorders, such as depression and manic episodes.

“It’s a family who, instead of breaking apart, learns to love more, become more selfless, and deal with this major problem of a woman you see but is no longer there. Can she come back? Will she be here again?” Williams shared.

“There is magic to this show,” he continued, noting that the play closes out with a very emotional ending.

“The last line you will never forget ever; it will resonate and echo through your entire life,” Williams said.

“It’s really such a positive, entertaining show with a very serious message and a very positive way of dealing with it. Sometimes love does win.”

Williams said the process of bringing the play to life has been a very therapeutic experience for his wife.

“To be able to share this story and share it in a way that’s going to help so many people—it just opens up the whole subject matter in a very tactile way that embraces you, and inspires you, and gives you hope, and makes you feel like you’re not alone,” he explained.

“It brings you closer to the basis of life, love, understanding, and family—everything that needs to be a priority in your life, this play brings it all out.

“It shows you what happens when love brings you together. And it shows you that together, miracles do happen.”