The Testament of Mary

Tamara Meneghini as Mary Photo: J. Akiyama ~ KinisisPhotography.com

While Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were heavily edited by Bishop Irenaeus of Lyon in the 3rd Century and the Council of Nicaea in the 4th Century, and while the Gnostic Gospels and the Dead Sea Scrolls were saved from this fate when they were buried in the desert to avoid destruction by Irenaeus' and Constantine's rabid henchmen, The Testament of Mary is an interpretation of events by a self-described activist (Toibin), so it falls much closer to the humanistic approach of the Gnostic Gospels and Dead Sea Scrolls, than the mythological constructs of the New Testament.

Jesus' mother, Mary (Tamara Meneghini), addresses us directly and shares the contents of her written testament as she is writing it, in this interpretation of Toibin's script directed by Ami Dayan. As a result of this approach, the fifth collaboration between Meneghini and Dayan, Mary's passion becomes as real as that of the great prophet and teacher to whom she gave birth.

Tamara Meneghini as Mary Photo: J. Akiyama ~ KinisisPhotography.com

Meneghini fully inhabits Mary's persona—quite an achievement with such an historically revered spiritual figure—enabling us to quickly identify with her, her concerns for her son, and her passion for the religious issues at hand. Dayan adds new elements to the setting—which includes a bed, a desk, a notebook, a carpenter's pencil, some important papers, and a couple of chairs—that are creatively used to represent a number of objects, including a baby's cradle and swaddling which, in Meneghini's hands, are transporting. Meneghini's movement, in reaction to events and in transitions around the stage, are wonderfully fluid, as if Dayan and she have choreographed the entire piece as a dance.

A number of famous events from the New Testament are described by Mary, including the marriage at Cana and the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Toibin's script is very circumspect when it comes to miracles; for example, when Mary describes the appearance of the casks filled with wine, she is sufficiently vague to leave it open as to whether the casks were delivered already filled with wine, or whether Jesus actually turned water into wine; but, when she comes to Lazarus, we are treated to a dramatically transcendent recounting of a man who is raised from his grave. Meneghini's wonderment and fear while describing the details is chilling!

Tamara Meneghini as Mary Photo: J. Akiyama ~ KinisisPhotography.com

Mary informs us that as a result of these miracles, her son is in danger. In this sense, the story is conventional, because it does not mention the key event in which Jesus challenged the Roman Empire: driving the money changers from the Temple with a whip, and calling them "Thieves!" In 33 AD, Rome was in the midst of a financial crisis. The reason is as obvious then as it is now with the US and Federal Reserve Notes, the still dominant world reserve currency: money creation was in private hands; that is, Rome was not sovereign; it was controlled by money lenders: Every member of the Roman Senate was a usurer. Clearly, Jesus' actions in the Temple were revolutionary acts. This is why he was killed a few days later: crucifixion was the Roman punishment for sedition. If Jesus' death was really a punishment for blasphemy, as the edited versions of the story promulgated by Iranaeus and the Council of Nicaea would have it, he would have been stoned to death, according to Jewish law at the time (which was later changed).

This oversight in the script aside, it is a beautifully told tale of a mother's pain at seeing her son murdered by the state. That her son was the world's most famous prophet, amplifies the drama, meaning, and implications of these events.

Goddess Here Productions' presentation of The Testament of Mary, by Colm Toibin, runs through May 12th. For tickets: thedairy.org.

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