The Testament of Mary

[foxy]

Before the play starts the audience is invited up onto the stage to see all the props which includes a very scary looking uncaged vulture. The actress Fiona Shaw is sitting in a glass box dressed in the traditional robes of Mary. Frankly I didn't get the point. I didn't go up on the stage and all the commotion of the audience moving around the theater annoyed me. This is a very serious play and it created a carnival atmosphere that just seemed out of place. I guess I'm getting crabby in my old age. Finally everyone returned to their seats, the stage went dark and Ms. Shaw was now on stage dressed in pants and a long tunic. Certainly not the way I was used to seeing Mary in all those paintings and statues I grew up with. Included in the Playbill is a pamphlet with a number of famous art reproductions and information that I was never really aware of. Mary is hardly mentioned in the bible and we know basically nothing about her. I was taught in Catholic school she was this sweet loving mother figure who you prayed to and would act in your behalf when you needed God's help. In the play Mary is now in a house in Ephesus essentially held prisoner by some of the apostles and is she pissed off! This all takes place after the crucifixion. Ms. Shaw is like a crazed wild animal crashing about the stage throwing furniture and props all over the place. How she can put herself through this over and over again is beyond me. It's an amazing and sometimes frightening performance to watch. Her last line in the play is like being hit with a sledgehammer. Later on I found myself thinking of the 1964 Pasolini film "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" another less traditional but probably more accurate portrayal of Mary as a pregnant teenager. This is definitely a play worth seeing but don't expect to have a fun evening.

[edjames]

I saw this production a few weeks back and was so completely underwhelmed by it I totally forgot to post my thoughts on the thread.

 

That said, I couldn't a agree with you more. This play is one mess of a production. I, too, did not get all that audience pre-show participation. I actually chuckled when I saw theater goers gawking around the stage and taking out their cell phone to capture photos of mundane objects strewn around the set, and yes, it was annoying.

 

Although I am loathe to admit it, I am a product of 16 years of catholic education. My post-graduate work was done at NYU. You are right, we know little about Mary and her life after her son's death. It is said that she settled in Ephesus (Turkey) and died there.

 

I never thought about Mary being pissed off by her son's life, his association with "a group of misfit followers" and his crucifixion till I saw this play. It's an interesting premise. Her anger was somewhat justified. It is said that the apostle James was Jesus's brother but there is little evidence to back any of this up, and he may have been a step brother as Joseph might have been married before.

 

Ms. Shaw is all over the place. Objects (ladders, urns, stools, tables, etc) are moved from one side of the stage to another and at one point she strips naked and plunges into a pool of water. All this left me baffled and confused. Despite it all, I too, admired Ms. Shaw's staminia and her intense performance. She recently caught a cold when the water in the pool was exceptionally cold one night!

 

The show runs about 90 minutes, no intermission, and warnings abound that no one is admitted to the theater after the show begins. I bolted as soon as the curtain came down.

 

"There's something about Mary" in this show but not enough to be entertaining.

 

ED

[foxy]

Several years ago I went to Ephesus to see the ruins and we did a little side trip to see "Mary's house". Inside was a very stern looking nun who looked like she would hit you with a ruler if dared to take a photo. Brought back some scary memories of grade school. I think all I ever learned were a few latin hymns and how to respond in true Pavlovian style to the nun's clickers during mass. One click to stand, two to kneel and three to sit. It went something like that. The religious highlight of the school year was the annual May crowning. For those "non-Catholics" out there (that's the term we used for all the other religions) the May crowning was a wonderfully pagan ritual. I loved it. The entire grade school would process from our school to the church several blocks away singing our little hearts out and praying the rosary. Finally when we got to the church several of the 8th graders who got voted the holiest (and I was one of them... gasp) got to help the "most Mary-like girl" up a very rickety step ladder that was placed inside the pulpit. From there she would place a crown of flowers on the head of this huge statue of Mary. This year it was Alice, a very sweet little thing who made the mistake of wearing her first set of one inch heels. As she was climbing the ladder her heel got stuck in the hem of her white robe and she started to fall. I was closest and pushed her butt forward to keep her from falling and she veered towards the statue hitting the head with her hands dropping the crown of flowers on Mary's head. The statue, which now had the crown hanging over Mary's eyes, started to wobble back and forth. The entire church looked on in horror expecting it to come crashing down in a million pieces of plaster. No doubt it was a miracle from heaven that the statue managed to stay upright. It was the highlight of my Catholic grade school education. I'm sure Alice is still having nightmares over this. Regina Coeli!

[+ Gar1eth]

Ms. Shaw is all over the place. Objects (ladders, urns, stools, tables, etc) are moved from one side of the stage to another and at one point she strips naked and plunges into a pool of water. All this left me baffled and confused. Despite it all, I too, admired Ms. Shaw's staminia and her intense performance. She recently caught a cold when the water in the pool was exceptionally cold one night!

 

I don't want to sound like a know-it-all, and I can't even get my mother to believe me either, but there is no scientific/medical proof that being cold or getting immersed in cold water causes colds.

 

Gman

[+ purplekow]

In fact polar bears rarely get colds

I don't want to sound like a know-it-all, and I can't even get my mother to believe me either, but there is no scientific/medical proof that being cold or getting immersed in cold water causes colds.

 

Gman

[foxy]

If it was "holy water" she wouldn't have gotten sick.

[foxy]

Okay, here's another Catholic grade school true story. One day, one of my teachers, Sister Mary something or other said "you know children, before you go to bed you should sprinkle your room with holy water, that way, when you are sleeping the devil can't come and drag you down to hell". Isn't that a sweet thing to tell a bunch of 8 year old kids? So the next day I took an empty bottle to church to fill up with holy water so I could sprinkle it around my room before I went to bed. Now my parents were really into wallpaper. They were constantly changing the paper in all the rooms and it was in the days when this was really hard work. They had just re-papered my bedroom with cowboy paper. I liked it a lot. Who doesn't like cowboys? So on my way home from school I stopped off at church and filled up my bottle with holy water from the font in the church. That night before I went to bed I started to sprinkle it around. I wanted to do a really good job so the devil would not drag me to hell. It was taking a long time so I got the brilliant idea of filling my water pistol with the holy water and proceeded to drench the walls. My mother came in while I was doing this and was, to put it mildly, not amused. I told her why I was doing it and how I needed to keep the devil out of the room and she just told me to go to bed. Luckily the paper didn't fall off the walls. When I got to Catholic high school and the brother who was teaching sophomore biology told us we would get cancer from masturbating I started to think a Catholic education just wasn't for me.

[edjames]

Hey "know-it-all". A little clarification is necessary. We are all aware that colds are spread by viruses and I'm sorry to say that the information I imparted about Ms. Shaw's "cold" came directtly from an interview she recently gave, thus the information was hers, not mine, and I should have clarified that. Perhaps the pool of water was infected...LOL You can reach Ms. Shaw on facebook...

[edjames]

Also, with only a Tony nom for best play and no noms for director or best actress, this show closes on Sunday, May 5. Jeez, you'd think the vulture would have gotten best bird....

 

ED

[Cooper]

I haven't seen all the Broadway shows nominated for "Best Play" but I did see The Testament of Mary. This was not one of my favorites... The portrayal of a depressing Mary smoking a cigarette, drinking liquor out of the bottle, and threatening to bash 2 of the apostles heads in with a hammer isn't my image of any grieving mother... Like others have said, I couldn't figure out what was so important about having the audience go up on stage and look at the props. I had an aisle seat and had to stand up numerous times as patrons returned to their seats... Well, since the play is ending this week, I'll give away a show spoiler. The last line of the play is, "It wasn't worth it". That basically sums up my review of this play... Now, with that said, God will now punish me and fix it so Mary wins the Tony! :-)

 

I'm with you Edjames, give that vulture an award. It did a great wing spread when I saw it.

[+ Gar1eth]

Hey "know-it-all". A little clarification is necessary. We are all aware that colds are spread by viruses and I'm sorry to say that the information I imparted about Ms. Shaw's "cold" came directtly from an interview she recently gave, thus the information was hers, not mine, and I should have clarified that. Perhaps the pool of water was infected...LOL You can reach Ms. Shaw on facebook...

 

I wasn't discounting anyone's knowledge of viruses. It seems to me people think an immersion in cold water or getting chilled- or cold feet for that matter- lowers your immunity.

 

Gman

[operalover21]

I saw this production a few weeks back and was so completely underwhelmed by it I totally forgot to post my thoughts on the thread.

 

That said, I couldn't a agree with you more. This play is one mess of a production. I, too, did not get all that audience pre-show participation. I actually chuckled when I saw theater goers gawking around the stage and taking out their cell phone to capture photos of mundane objects strewn around the set, and yes, it was annoying.

 

Although I am loathe to admit it, I am a product of 16 years of catholic education. My post-graduate work was done at NYU. You are right, we know little about Mary and her life after her son's death. It is said that she settled in Ephesus (Turkey) and died there.

 

I never thought about Mary being pissed off by her son's life, his association with "a group of misfit followers" and his crucifixion till I saw this play. It's an interesting premise. Her anger was somewhat justified. It is said that the apostle James was Jesus's brother but there is little evidence to back any of this up, and he may have been a step brother as Joseph might have been married before.

 

Ms. Shaw is all over the place. Objects (ladders, urns, stools, tables, etc) are moved from one side of the stage to another and at one point she strips naked and plunges into a pool of water. All this left me baffled and confused. Despite it all, I too, admired Ms. Shaw's staminia and her intense performance. She recently caught a cold when the water in the pool was exceptionally cold one night!

 

The show runs about 90 minutes, no intermission, and warnings abound that no one is admitted to the theater after the show begins. I bolted as soon as the curtain came down.

 

"There's something about Mary" in this show but not enough to be entertaining.

 

ED

 

I thought it was real rubbish. I adore Fiona Shaw but she never seems to strike the right note in this thing. Of course, the play doesn't help. What a mess.

[+ Axiom2001]

This play is currently being performed at American Conservatory Theatre {ACT} in San Francisco. I saw it this past Saturday [11.15.14] The actress who performed this one character drama was superb in her portrayal of Mary.

 

I DID NOT like the play, for it was not one to which I could relate at all, but I did marvel at the unique and ingenious stage set, the costuming, the overall color coordination, the lighting, and the stellar manner in which the actress rendered her role. Although she did not receive a standing ovation, she did receive some hefty applause in being able to speak and act steadily for some eighty+ minutes in a one woman's show!!!

 

Apparently, this production was NO WAY near what was performed while it was on Broadway some time back!