The Testament of Mary

    It has been quite a few weeks since I saw The Testament of Mary in fact, it's been almost a full month. I feel as though I'm better equipped to write about it now than I was when I first saw the play. This is rare piece of theater that requires a time to think about what you've seen and heard before you can really make your mind up about it.

    This may be one of the reasons why The Testament of Mary closed on the same day that it received a Tony nomination for best play (it's only nomination). Seeing as it's a one woman show, one would think that the woman who plays Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have also gotten a nomination, but she didn't.

    It's difficult to discuss the topic of the play, because it's very controversial. Though, in a sense, it's not. It tells the events of Jesus' life through the eyes of a mother. A mother wants nothing more than to protect her children, to shield them from those who would do them harm. A mother wants her children to lead long and happy lives.

   Colm Toibin, who has written the play and the novel that it is based on, has set the action in present day, which is a tad confusing. When you walk into the theater - you are greeted with an open stage that has many loose objects on it. A ladder, a real live falcon, a pool of water, a table, chairs, and sitting off center, Fiona Shaw (Mary) dressed as Mary might appear in a Pieta, or a stained glass at a Catholic Church. She is in a glass box, and surrounded by dozens of lit candles. Audience members are invited up onto the state before they take their seats to examine the scene before them. They are even allowed to take pictures.

   Here is one such picture if you'd like to take a look.

http://www.nyc-arts.org/events/48988/the-testament-of-mary

   Five minutes before the play is to begin, audience members are asked to take their seats. The Glass box flies out, the candles and falcon are removed, and the stage is now the home that Mary now lives in. For the next nearly two hours, we are told her side of the story in a way that we never have been before.

   Fiona Shaw is a formidable actress. She has superb material to work with. The first problem with the play is the theater. The Walter Kerr seats a little over 1,000 people. For such a small, intimate story the audiences feels slightly disconnected from what is happening on stage in a way that they should not. The play would have been suited in a much smaller venue. The Booth, The Hayes, or Circle in the square are the only suitable Broadway houses for this type of production.

   The second problem is the direction. Rather than letting Fiona Shaw just act and say her lines, Deborah Warner has given her endless amounts of stage business to do. Washing, wood working, chopping, making snacks, it's exhausting to watch! Not to mention the endless amounts of symbolism that make very little sense practically. The text is sometimes lost because the stage action is so frenetic.

    This is the first time this play has been produced anywhere. No doubt that it will resurface regionally, or perhaps in London, and be better the next time around. This production lacked focus. The set and costumes were drab in a way that brought the show down.

    The text is wonderful however, and well worth reading if you have the time. If you were brought up with religion, or enjoy the study of religious iconography and belief structure than you will probably find it immensely interesting. Some might find it offensive, because of the way that it depicts the very tenets of Christianity, but it certainly will give you something to think about.