Women of the Cross - The Witnesses Called Mary
This drama gives life to the last seven lines uttered by Christ and the women who must witness his death. It’s a beautiful and mournful play capturing the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and the witnesses of Mary, his mother; Mary Magdalene, his disciple; and Mary Clopas, sister to Mary, Mother of Jesus. As Jesus utters his final words from the cross, it is the women of his ministry who ensure his story is told. The three women travel with Jesus to the hills of Golgotha and bear witness to his crucifixion. These women go to the cross when his other disciples must fear discovery. These are the women who bear witness to the brutality of the day and stay by His side until…
Running time is 40 - 45 minutes, and has original music and sound effect cues that can be used for greater emotional impact to the performance.
Productions
Behind The Scenes
With Josephine Kelly
What inspired you to write this play? I read the novel, “The Book of Longings” which created fascinating characters of the time, and watched a documentary about Mary Magdalene and I began to wonder about these women. Who are they and what might they be feeling - living through this period of history? The time that the “Passion of the Christ” came out in the theatres, I had a small child at home and that story hit me from a mother’s perspective and made it all that much more powerful. So, I wanted to give these women a voice and create a story that explored the thinking and feeling that they might be experiencing during this turbulent time.
What's your favorite part or line in the play? Why? When in Scene 6 Mary, Mother of Jesus is just about broken and she asks to return to simple more blessed times and the women lift her by saying the times are difficult, but they are still blessed, and the women connect in the recognition of the Truth. In that moment, it is the power of hope that Truth delivers. I love the promise of that scene.
Tell us a little about the characters. Why did you include them? There are different accounts of the crucifixion, but I chose to focus on Mary, Mother of Jesus and the heartbreak of watching her child die in this manner and I am fascinated by the independence of Mary Magdalene and then who but a sister, Mary of Clopas is needed? Not only as support for her sister, but as an aunt who probably helped raise Jesus and has her own heartbreak. All three women are connected in some way to Jesus and thus connected to each other on the hills of Golgotha. They are brave in an exceedingly challenging time and are there not only as family, but as follows of Christ and that is faith.
What did you try to achieve with this play? I hoped to create a story that could be told during Holy Week or any time and would be accessible to theatrical groups or churches in its simplicity and power of the message.