let the work speak for itself." Critical response It is neither anti-Mary nor anti-Christianity, but rather a portrait of a very human woman – a mother – who is trying to make sense of and come to terms with the tragic death of her son.
The producers issued a statement, which read, in part: " The Testament of Mary explores, in a very serious way, something that matters deeply to all of us. The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property protested at the first preview of the play and again at its opening, asserting that the depiction of Mary in the play is blasphemous. So I would imagine people will respect that.
It's almost that we're recreating or exploring an icon, rather than reducing the iconic. It's not as though we're attempting to get involved with the mockery of icons. In response to a question whether the fact that the play "could stir up a lot of controversy intimidate or excite you", Tóibín replied "The text, what I wrote and what they're doing, is very serious. In November that same year, another production of the play was staged for a limited run at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, starring acting veteran Pamela Rabe and directed by Anne-Louise Sarks. In early 2017, the Sydney Theatre Company mounted the Australian premiere of the play at the Wharf Theatre, with Alison Whyte playing the role of Mary. This reinterpretation was adapted and directed by Michael Rader and the cast included Lynn Cohen, Adriane Lenox, Jill Paice, Elizabeth Kemp and Thursday Farrar. In the fall of 2015, a new version of the play with five women sharing the role of Mary was presented privately to members of the theatrical community. The play was directed by Deborah Warner, with sets by Tom Pye, costumes by Ann Roth, lighting by Jennifer Tipton and original music and sound design by Mel Mercier. The play opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre in a limited run on Apafter 27 previews it closed on May 5, 2013, only two weeks into its scheduled 12-week run. The novella was written after this production. The production was directed by Garry Hynes and starred Marie Mullen. The Testament of Mary was initially performed at the Dublin Theatre Festival, under the title Testament in October 2011, and was in the form of a monologue. He said "the impulse to write the play was not political, was not to intervene in a debate about the church, but rather to work with a voice that had mattered to me personally, a voice that was iconic as well as human." Further, he noted that he had "seen great performances in the Irish theater", which meant that "In their performances the act of utterance itself took on a sort of soaring nervous power." Īfter the initial reading at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2011 of an earlier version of the play and the writing of the novella, Tóibin "rewrote the original play, with the images starker, the voice even more urgent and filled with human pain." Production history This tour de force of imagination and language is a portrait so vivid and convincing that our image of Mary will be forever transformed.Tóibín wrote in The New York Times that he began writing the play because he felt "almost a vacuum of faith in Ireland" in late 2008. This woman who we know from centuries of paintings and scripture as the docile, loving, silent, long-suffering, obedient, worshipful mother of Christ becomes, in Toibin’s searing evocation, a tragic heroine with the relentless eloquence of Electra or Medea or Antigone. Mary judges herself ruthlessly (she did not stay at the foot of the Cross until her son died-she fled, to save herself), and is equally harsh on her judgment of others. She does not agree that her son is the Son of God nor that his death was “worth it ” nor that the “group of misfits he gathered around him, men who could not look a woman in the eye,” were holy disciples. She has no interest in collaborating with the authors of the Gospel-her keepers, who provide her with food and shelter and visit her regularly.
She has no interest in collaborating with the authors of the Provocative, haunting, and indelible, Colm Tóibín’s portrait of Mary presents her as a solitary older woman still seeking to understand the events that become the narrative of the New Testament and the foundation of Christianity.In the ancient town of Ephesus, Mary lives alone, years after her son's crucifixion. Provocative, haunting, and indelible, Colm Tóibín’s portrait of Mary presents her as a solitary older woman still seeking to understand the events that become the narrative of the New Testament and the foundation of Christianity.In the ancient town of Ephesus, Mary lives alone, years after her son's crucifixion.
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