The Testament of Mary

Tony Award-nominated play, The Testament of Mary written

by Colm Tóibín and directed by Paul Kaufmann is coming to the Columbia

Museum of Art from June 10-June18.

Years after her son’s death, Mary, mother of Jesus, is visited by Gospel writers seeking the truth. In an honest, insightful, and moving first-person narrative, Mary recounts her son’s final days. Based on the novella by author and playwright Colm Tóibín, this Tony-nominated play provides a stunning glimpse into the heart and mind of a grieving mother as she’s left with the question: Was it worth it? “The production is happening in the large space behind the main gallery upstairs at the museum.  It’s a big, open space, and we’re creating a stage and performance space that suits this show perfectly,” says Director Paul Kaufmann, who not only has a wealth of knowledge in the theatre realm, but also studied Art History in graduate school and taught Art Appreciation and History for several years at The University of South Carolina. Kaufmann goes on to elaborate the significance of the collaboration between Trustus and the Columbia Museum of Art when he says, “The museum is offering tours of the images of Mary in their collection beforehand, focusing on the increasingly human portrayals of Mary from the Gothic period, through the Renaissance and into the Baroque era. Our play is, in a way, an extension of that continuum — in this moving one-person show, Irish novelist and playwright Colm Toibin has given us a deeply human version of Mary — not an icon, but a mother who’s lost her son in an unimaginably Elena Martinez-Vidal, Trustus Ensemble member playing Mary in The Testament of Mary, is the only actor in the production, but has had experience in one-actor pieces, specifically under the direction of Kaufmann, in David Sedaris’s Season’s Greetings. Praised for her trust and fearlessness in exploring a one-actor script, Kaufmann confidently states, “She is fully capable of rising to the challenge of inhabiting a stage alone.”

Opening night for The Testament of Mary is Friday, June 10 at 8:00 pm following the Gallery Tour at 7:30 pm

Other shows are

Saturday, June 11 at 8:00 pm following the Gallery Tour at 7:30 pm

Sunday, June 12 at 3:00 pm following the Gallery Tour at 2:30 pm

Thursday, June 16 at 7:30 pm following the Gallery Tour at 7:00 pm

Friday, June 17 at 8:00 pm following the Gallery Tour at 7:30 pm

Saturday, June 18 at 8:00pm following the Gallery Tour at 7:30 pm.