Holy Mary!
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And Mary and Marie and Maria and...
by AMY BARRATT
Talk about striking the mother lode.
When Ann Lambert and Laura Mitchell decided to collaborate on a theatre piece, it was because they were both writing monologues with strong female voices. That is, they weren't all about getting dumped by men or what Mitchell calls "women's juices."
The Mary Project has been through many transformations in the three years since it was conceived, not so immaculately, over wine at La Cabane. What began as a string of thematically linked monologues has grown into something with an overarching plot, closer to a traditional "well-made play." It will premiere at infinitheatre in April 2001, but is already garnering interest as far afield as Australia and Ireland.
The project isn't really about the mother of Christ except that, as Lambert says, "In Western culture, you can't separate the way women perceive themselves from Mary." They decided to explore the dramatic potential of some historical Marys and the name unlocked a wealth of juicy dramatic material.
You won't see Marie Antoinette sailing onto the set in full pompadour, but there is a modern-day character whose history in some ways parallels the French queen's. Other characters are inspired by Marie Curie, Mary Magdalene, "Bloody" Mary (Mary I of England), and yes, Mary Poppins. The play is set in the South Shore town of Marieville, in a greasy spoon called Chez Ma Mère.
This is the first collaboration between Lambert (Very Heaven) and Mitchell (one half of Titters), but it's proving to be a great fit. They are both strong, smart, hilarious women with just enough contrast in creative approach to make things interesting. "I tend to have a more traditional approach to dramatic structure, and Laura is more theatrical," Lambert says. "But we collaborate uncannily well."
"Sometimes we'll come [to a work session] with notes," says Mitchell, "and they're the same notes."
This despite coming to the material from different spiritual backgrounds. "As a Southern Protestant," says Missouri native Mitchell, "all this Mary stuff is close to heresy. But I'm fascinated by religious ecstasy."
Asked what significance the Virgin Mary has had in her life, Lambert, who was raised a Catholic, chirps, "I was the Virgin Mary for three years running at St. Edmund's of Canterbury school!" A little prepubescent psychosis, Ann? No, just the annual Christmas pageant.
A third collaborator has recently been brought on-board. Rachael Van Fossen, who teaches in the theatre department at Concordia, will direct the original production. What happens to The Mary Project after that is not certain, but the playwrights are convinced it will have a life beyond infinitheatre.
At a conference on International Women Playwrights in Athens last fall, Mitchell and Lambert were approached by a company from Melbourne that wants to do a production in 2001. An Irish company is interested in hosting a Canadian production. There have also been "discussions" with a big Canadian company to be named later.
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