Testament of Mary -- Review of a Preview Performance

[BigGuy3]

Posted: 4/12/13 at 4:36am

The show was difficult for me to appreciate. It's a monologue written by Toibin for Shaw for a festival in Ireland that became a novel, which has now become a longer monologue. Before the play officially begins, the stage is open for the audience to walk on up to witness the statue of the Virgin Mary in a big glass box. Shaw's toughest acting is that -- she's motionless and really does look like a statue. Then the audience gets seated, audience lights go down, the glass box goes up, and the statue comes to life.

Shaw relates the life of the adult Christ from the view of Mary being a concerned mom. Although some Catholic groups have attacked the play for being blasphemous, it's filled with piety.

It really does not seem to be Mary of 2000 years ago, but an Irish female janitor of today who has time on her hands when she's cleaning things in the middle of the night and who insanely believes she is Mary. She is talking to apostles of the Christ who want her to attest to His miracles, but she is insistent that her son was a man, not God. We witness her talk.

The stage business is of Shaw putting on coats and taking them off, moving furniture around, and after she recounts the crucifixion and death, stripping down, bathing in a small deep bathtub, getting dressed, and then witnessing a golden olive tree arising from the bathtub. She speaks loudly and softly and goes through all sorts of emotions as she speaks. After she recounts a story in the life of the Christ, the lighting changes, accompanied with some brief loud musical sounds, and then she resumes with another story.

It'd be a better play if Mary didn't move around so much and the set wasn't abstractions. It feels like being forced to think out the symbolism in theater of the absurd. When you're forced to think and feel though, it's not cathartic like seeing "Death of A Salesman" or "The Iceman Cometh" or Shakespear; it's more like getting a cavity filled at the dentist.

The play is thought provoking, but Testament of Mary is nowhere near as entertaining as the 2000 year old man saying, "Oh, Jesus. Bearded young man. Was a carpenter. He made our kitchen table. Did a good job too, don't know why he left the business. Would have had a good future in it."

If Colm Toibin's ideas and lines could be combined with George C. Wolfe's "Last Mama-On-The-Couch Play", this could be a great comedy for Tyler Perry dressed in drag as Mary.











Updated On: 4/12/13 at 04:36 AM