Review - The Testament of Mary

Although I may be seeing this show again later this week with a Tony pal, when a handsome chum told me he had an extra free ticket to The Testament of Mary on Saturday afternoon, I jumped at the chance.  One, I love seeing shows with handsome chums.  Two, I love Fiona Shaw.  Three, why not see shows more than once, I always say.  Well, unless we're talking about Motown.  Then...not so much.

I didn't know very much about The Testament of Mary before I saw it.  I knew it was a solo show, and that it dealt with the mother of Jesus, but that's about it.  When passing out the Playbills, the ushers also passed out a flyer from the author of the novel the play is based on.  I didn't read the flyer until this morning (though I did look at the photos before the show - I love photos of Michelangelo's Pieta).  We had excellent seats in the front row of the mezzanine and from our vantage point, we could see the pre-show activity on the stage, where audience members could walk around and look at the set pieces and a large glass box, where Fiona Shaw, as Mary, was sitting.  It was kind of amazing how waxy and unreal she looked while she was sitting in that exhibit case.  When the glass case was lifted, and Fiona Shaw got ready for the start of the production, it was a bit of a shock to see her turn into flesh and blood.  She truly is amazing.  [I snuck the photo at right from the front of the mezzanine.  Since they were allowing audience members to take photos while they were milling about onstage, I figured it was ok to snap this one.] 

Directed by Fiona Shaw's frequent collaborator, Deborah Warner, The Testament of Mary is relentlessly theatrical.  I mean this as a huge positive and a bit of a negative.  Personally, I could listen to Fiona Shaw sit and talk for 90 minutes about whatever the heck she wanted to talk about, but to make this a unique theatrical experience, Warner and Shaw have really pulled out all the stops.  There were times when I wished the theatrical busyness would stop; I was most personally affected during moments of stillness and quietness, but, still, all of the effects were intruiging and striking and added up to something unlike anything I'd seen before.  Afterwards, I guess you could think, 'well, they didn't need to do this or that,' but during the performance, I was completely entranced by what was going on.  I found myself gripping my handbag so tightly, the circulation stopped moving in my hands.  That's how engaged I found myself.

I'm not particularly religious, though I guess I do believe in God and Jesus and the Bible, which has some cracking good stories in it.  But I also find issues of faith and faithlessness intriguing.  To hear from a woman who is so deified speak as a human, instead of as a religious icon, was so interesting to me.  We hear from Mary speaking as a mother - a mother who struggles with what her son did and how (and why) her son died.  I just found it so moving - I was holding my breath at certain points and in tears at other points.  The retelling of the story of Lazarus was compelling - honestly, I had never considered what happened AFTER Lazarus was raised from the dead before.  And the retelling of the Crucifixion was heartbreaking.  I guess, after a season of uber-realistic work, I was just completely taken by this seemingly simple (but oh-so-complex) story being delivered in such a heightened manner.  The music was wonderful, the lighting and set piece effects were terrific, and some of the directorial choices were shocking, in a good way.  The last moments took my breath away.  Maybe, now and then, the constant movement was a little much (the ladder was a particular conundrum to me), but I could make it work for myself dramatically.  Here is a woman in constant motion, who, if she sits still for too long, gets lost in thoughts she'd rather not get lost in.  So, she's always on the move.  If that constant movement segued into fussiness a time or two, oh well. 

Fiona Shaw was riveting, magical, injecting just the right amount of humor into a deeply serious piece.  Thumbs way up for her, both during the show, and again while greeting her fans so happily afterwards.  She seemed quite moved by and appreciative of the rapturous curtain call we all gave her (and if she was acting, again, thumbs up).  I'm hoping audiences will find their way to The Testament of Mary.  Even though there are a lot of tricks happening, the end result is so striking, it's definitely worth the visit.  I hope I get to go back and see it from a different vantage point - I may even try the pre-show walkthrough!  Why not?!  Pieces like this are definitely worthy of more than one look...