Agustí Villaronga, Frederic Amat and Blanca Portillo tell the tale of Jesus of Nazareth according to his mother in this pagan gospel.
Actress Blanca Portillo stars with this bold retake on Mary, recast as a simple countrywoman whose only child has been snatched away because of a heavenly decision she doesn’t understand. Irish novelist Colm Tóibín offers up this surprising monologue in which a pagan Mary spends her final days at Ephesus, tormented by the terrible hatred unleashed against Jesus and watched over by her son’s disciples. She knows that some of them are writing lies – and that’s why she wants to tell us what really happened.
Director Agustí Villaronga’s staging reflects the utterly human nature of the mother of God, a woman whose emotions pour out kaleidoscopically as she relives the ghosts of the past while standing at the doorway to death.
The piece is rounded out by artist Frederic Amat’s scenery and music by Australian singer and songwriter Lisa Gerrard, of Dead Can Dance.