Praise for The Testament of Mary: This is a short book, but it is as dense as a diamond. Colm Tibns The Testament of Mary is the moving story of the Virgin Mary, told by a novelist famous for writing brilliantly about the family. In her effort to tell the truth in all its gnarled complexity, she slowly emerges as a figure of immense moral stature as well as a woman from history rendered now as fully human. As her life and her suffering begin to acquire the resonance of myth, Mary struggles to break the silence surrounding what she knows to have happened. To her he was a vulnerable figure, surrounded by men who could not be trusted, living in a time of turmoil and change. For Mary, her son has been lost to the world, and now, living in exile and in fear, she tries to piece together the memories of the events that led to her sons brutal death. From the author of Brooklyn, in a voice that is both tender and filled with rage, The Testament of Mary tells the story of a cataclysmic event which led to an overpowering grief. Venue: Barbican, London.SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2013 The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of The Testament of Mary, the powerful new novel by Colm Tibn, read by Meryl Streep.

In a theatre that normally regards religion as a taboo subject, this is an evening that not only rescues Mary from mummified devotion, but one that also raises profound questions about the personal sacrifices involved in universal belief. Once or twice I felt the production overdid the crucifixion images, but Warner has ingeniously given Shaw's brilliant performance a strong physical context. Her Mary is full of resentful fury at the appropriation of her once-shy son by what she regards as a suspect politico-religious cult.Īt the same time, Shaw conjures up other characters, such as a gossipy, chain-smoking acolyte, and even transforms herself into Jesus by the simple device of standing with left hand outstretched and right arm authoritatively raised. What is equally extraordinary about Shaw's performance is its many-sidedness.

When Jesus, in an incident recorded in Matthew, says to Mary, 'What have I to do with you?', you are unsure whether it is a mark of filial indifference or a means of protecting her against future persecution. Best of all is Mary's memory of the crucifixion, which recreates its physical horror while reminding us it was a public spectacle.īut Tóibín's tale is open to multiple interpretations. There is caustic humour in Mary's description of Jesus's disciples as misfits 'roaming the countryside in search of want and affliction' and a wary scepticism to her account of the raising of Lazarus, and the transformation of water into wine at the wedding at Cana. Tóibín's skill lies in imagining Mary's embittered perplexity without shutting the door on the story's miraculous element.

The testament of mary play